Boris, Doris, and Faith
by a-delacroix
Summary: Add Chp 5. This is a cross-over with the movie 'True Lies'. Since the actor Eliza Dushka plays both Faith and the daughter on 'True Lies', what if Faith really was the grown up daughter from the movie? This is the sequel I would like to see.
1. BDFchapter 1

**Boris, Doris, & Faith**

Author: duaneaa at gmail dot com

[Author's Note: This story starts approximately two minutes after the end of the series finale. It is a crossover with the movie 'True Lies'. With the actor Eliza Dushka playing both Faith and the daughter in 'True Lies', this always has been an obvious crossover to me, but I have never seen it done before. Of course, I have only read maybe one-tenth of one percent of all the _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ fan fiction out there, so I could have missed it! Anyway this is my take on the crossover.]

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing. Well I own a house, two cars, a pair of jetskis, and a lot of other junk, but none of these characters.

Rating: PG-13 (At this point I think this is going to be a simple action/adventure story. If anyone makes an interesting suggestion in another direction, perhaps the rating will go up.)

**Boris, Doris, & Faith**

**Chapter 1 - Part 1**

Exhilaration, exhaustion, satisfaction, pain.

I felt all these things and more as I stood there with all of the new slayers looking out at the gigantic, smoking hole that had been Sunnydale.

Although mostly it was satisfaction, this time I had been on the right side in the battle with the big bad. And it felt good.

The death of my first watcher. That evil bitch watcher. Killing the mayor's assistant. And, of course, 'The Mayor' himself. At every turning point since I became a slayer, it seemed like I had been driven down the dark path.

Finally, for the first time since I arrived in Sunnydale four years ago, I could look past dark times and see a potentially better future. Unfortunately, as a slayer, thinking about the future sometimes seemed to be sufficient to set things in motion.

At least that's the way it seemed this time. The bus had been stopped for less the five minutes. Willow, Giles, and a few of the new slayers were helping the more critically injured of the survivors, but most of us were just standing and looking out at the devastation. It was lucky most of the town had been evacuated before the worst of the trouble or the death total would have been in the tens of thousands rather than in the hundreds.

Anyway, none of us were paying much attention as the car pulled up and a man climbed out. He slowly walked over to where we were gathered at the end of the road. The road that just fell off the cliff.

After a couple of the minutes the man said, "Dana, we need to talk."

One of the new slayers was named Dana, but I recognized the voice. It had been almost five years since I had talked to him. Seeing him here, now, was a huge surprise, but I had a lot of practice at not showing my true emotions, especially after the years in prison. However between the post-fight lassitude and the shock of seeing him, I didn't even bother with my normal sarcasm.

"It's Faith now, Albert." I said.

"Okay, Faith. But you know I prefer Gib rather than Albert." He responded in his usual jocular manner.

I nodded my agreement. If he could accept that I am Faith now, then I could call him Gib. Even though only my father called him Gib and I wasn't certain I was ready to think about my father just now.

Buffy and Xander, who had been standing on the other side of me, gave me a questioning look. Sighing, I realized it was going to be an afternoon for some difficult explanations.

Turning, I made the introductions.

"Gib, these are my friends, Buffy Summers and Xander Harris. Well, I hope we are friends at this point. We have just been to hell and back together." B and Xan both gave small nods and my heart lifted a little. We would never be best friends after some of the things I had done to them in the past. For the moment, we are at least allies and maybe almost friends, but that was all too complicated to go into right now.

Turning to the others, I continued. "Guys, this is Albert 'Gib' Gibson. He used to work with my Dad."

As expected, I got raised eyebrows at this statement. All I had ever told about my history, before becoming the Chosen One, was the story about my drug-addict Mother - a story which had only been a convenient fabrication. However now looked like a time for the truth.

Oh, I could just talk to Gib in private, but I was determined not to drift back to the dark side. And secrets always seem to lead me into darkness.

Gesturing back towards the bus, I said, "Let's find a spot in the shade. I have some explaining to do."

As the four of us settled to the ground, I tried to decide where to begin. It seemed like one of those times where it was better to just rip the Band-Aid off with one quick jerk rather than a slow, gentle motion. Better to get the lies out in the open quick and try to move on.

Looking at Buffy and Xander, I said. "Everything I told you about my life before I became a slayer was a lie."

I expected more of a response, but they both just waited patiently for me to continue. I guess when you have been through all they had in their lives in Sunnydale it takes a lot to cause a shock. Particularly, Buffy. I mean when I found out she had been dead, buried, and in heaven for four months, I guess the fact I lied about my past does sound like pretty small potatoes.

"I originally grew up in D.C., not Boston. I only arrived in Boston a short time before I became the Chosen One. My name was Dana Tasker. My Dad, Harry, was in computer sales and traveled a lot. My Mom, Helen, was a secretary.

"I had a typical suburban childhood until I was eleven. Then I was kidnapped by terrorists. You know those guys who set off the huge bomb on that deserted island in the Florida Keys. The one they first said was a nuke, but then it turned out to be a large cargo ship full of fertilizer?"

As Xander slowly nodded, Gib interjected, "They didn't want to alarm the public. It really was a nuke."

I wondered at this unusually forthright response from Gib, but then perhaps it was related to why he was here.

"Anyway, the terrorists had taken me to Miami and we were at the top of this high-rise office building that was under construction. The terrorist leader claimed to have another bomb and he was going to detonate it and destroy Miami, if his demands were not met. I couldn't understand why they had grabbed me and taken me to Miami, but being just a kid they weren't keeping too close a watch on me. I managed to steal the key to the bomb and tried to hide up on the roof.

"The terrorist leader followed me up. Now, as I said, the building was under construction. A large crane was attached to the side of the building with a long arm extending out over the side of the roof. To get away, I crawled out onto the arm. Not the smartest tactic, but I was young and scared. As I clambered away from him, he just kept following. I threatened to drop the key, but he just kept coming. Finally, I was reaching the end of the arm when this incredibly loud noise started coming from below. I looked down and there was this military jet directly below. Just hovering."

"Cool, a harrier," interjected Xander.

"No," shaking my head, I continued. "The cool part was when I looked down, the canopy slide back, and there was my Dad yelling at me to jump down. My Dad, the computer salesman, flying a jet. Rescuing me.

"Well, to make a long story short, my Dad saved me, blew the shit out of the terrorists, and then landed in the middle of a busy intersection in downtown Miami."

"So, I'm thinking your Dad is not just computer salesguy," remarked B.

I laughed. "Yeah, just like you're not just high school guidance girl, Wil is not just college girl or Giles is not just former librarian guy.

"Turns out my Dad was some kind of super secret agent. A real James Bond. Except with a wife and daughter. Perhaps that explains some of my violent tendencies. I just inherited them from my father. Apparently, he has killed a lot of people."

"But they were all bad," said Gib, echoing a comment my Mom had once told me.

I know I shouldn't have, but I had to do my best Buffy impression. I put on the sweetest, most innocence face I could manage and said. "Killing people is wrong."

Gib shook is head. "For some people, it is necessary."

"No," said Buffy, obviously still in anti-demon crusade mode after the past months spent battling 'The First'. "Look around you, there are plenty of monsters and demons and hell-gods to slay. People need to be helped. Killing people IS wrong."

I had tried to mock Buffy a little by saying that line, but hearing it from her sent chills down my spine. Ever since my return from prison, Buffy has seemed so different. Almost like she is no longer merely human, merely 'The Slayer', but is becoming something more. When Wesley told me Cordy had evolved into a higher being, it was hard to believe. But being around Buffy lately, I have this feeling in my gut that she is evolving into something else, too.

Or perhaps it is just her unique perspective after spending time in heaven. How many others have ever returned from there?

As my thoughts wandered, Gib started to turn the conversation in a direction I hadn't expected.

"I need your help," he said looking at me. "It doesn't involve killing people, but it does involve demons or monsters or something."

Then he paused and made sure I was looking him in the eye when he said. "And your parents."

**Chapter 1 - Part 2**

My Parents. I wasn't the only one to get involved with my Father in that little adventure in Florida. Somehow my Mom had also taken part. When we were reunited in Miami, I almost didn't recognize her. I mean my Mom had always been just my Mom: a little frumpy and starting to get a little stoop shouldered. When she and Gib showed up at the local FBI office where my Dad and I had been taken, she was still wearing this little black cocktail dress. She was covered with what looked like soot from a fire and sported a split lip and the beginnings of a black eye, but all I saw was this beautiful woman I had never seen before. I remember thinking, 'My God, my Mom is actually hot.' And she looked closer to 25 than her actual 36.

After the spectacular rescue by my Dad, his cover story was blown with me. I mean even at eleven, I wasn't so naïve to believe computer salesmen had access to military jets to save their daughters. So the three of us had a long heart-to-heart talk that afternoon.

I was a little surprised to find out my Mother had been as much in the dark about Dad's actual occupation as I had been. But I was a lot more surprised when she told my Dad that if he wanted to continue to be in the spy biz, she would only permit it if she was allowed to participate, too. I never got all of the details of what had happened to them during the 36 hours I had been kidnapped, but apparently Dad liked the changes in Mom.

Once I got used to them, I really started to like the new, improved Mom, too. She was just so vibrant and alive, like every day was a wonderful adventure rather than just one more day to cross off the calendar hanging on the inside of the pantry door.

I never got all the details of how my Father wrangled it, but one month later my Mom went to work for the 'Omega Force', a secret black-ops off-shoot of the NSA. For the next three months it was just me and Dad, as Mom disappeared for some specialized training.

I had thought seeing her in that black cocktail dress in Miami had been a shock, but when she got back from that training course, Wow. My Dad and I had just watched 'Terminator 2' a couple of days earlier on HBO and the first thing I thought when I saw her was 'Linda Hamilton'. She had this incredible muscle tone without looking like one of those grotesque female body-builders. And she just moved differently, graceful and powerful at the same time. I was just reaching that age where girls really start paying attention to boys and I noticed how my Mom now had, what's the word? Presence. We could walk into a restaurant and every male eye in the room would follow her. Before this she could walk into a room and no one would give her a second glance. Or truthfully, even a first glance. But afterwards, it was like men could sense the power and danger in her. I don't know what that training course involved, but I never saw that look in men's eyes for any other woman until I got my slayer powers and realized I was receiving the same looks I had seen directed at her. Of course, at 15 I sometimes had a harder time not letting that power go to my head than my Mom did in her thirties. Okay, let me be honest, plenty of times I did give in to that power I had over men.

After my Mom returned from the training course things in the Tasker household more or less returned to normal. Except every couple of months my parents would disappear for a few days or a couple of weeks and the 'sales trips' or 'marketing conventions' ruses were no longer required.

Things went on like this until my thirteenth birthday. We had just returned home from dinner and were cutting the birthday cake when the phone rang. It was a 'Boris and Doris' call, my parents' silly euphemism for an urgent assignment.

After quickly opening my gifts and getting Mrs. Katz from across the street to come stay with me, they headed out. It was only suppose to be a week to ten days. I never saw my parents again. Twelve days later Gib showed up at our door. All I was told was that it involved 'National Security'.

Gib would never say anything more, but from the look in his eyes it had always been obvious to me that he knew more than he was telling. Ultimately, this led to our falling out and my being in Boston on that fateful day when I became the 'Chosen One'.

Now perhaps after all of these years I was finally going to find out what had happened to my parents.

**Chapter 1 - Part 3**

After Gib made his comment about my parents I spent several minutes just thinking about them which I had trained myself to avoid over the past few years. Finally, I asked, "Are they alive?"

Gib looked down at the ground for a moment. "Maybe."

Before he had a chance to explain further, Kennedy ran up.

"Willow says she and Giles have done all they can with the injured, but some of them are going to need a hospital and real doctors. They want to get on the way."

Buffy nodded and started to get up. As she took a moment to stretch her muscles she turned to Gib and said, "Gib, how about you ride with us awhile? I will get one of the others to follow us in your car."

"That's not necessary, B. I can ride with Gib," I said.

Buffy reached down a hand to pull me up. "Faith, while you're here you are still one of us. If one of us needs help, we all pitch in. That's why we always win in the end. Now we are all going to listen to what Gib has to say and see what we can do to help. Okay?"

I just nodded, but I am sure she could see the extra brightness in my eyes. I had always been forced to depend on myself, but it was nice to realize I might have the resources of the whole group, if I needed them.

We piled onto the bus with Gib, me, Kennedy and the core of the Scoobies in the back two rows of seats. As the bus got underway, I introduced Gib to the ones he hadn't met yet and brought them up to speed on the conversation so far.

"So," I concluded. "My parents left on a secret mission on my thirteenth birthday and never returned. After awhile I gave up hope and that's when Faith was born."

Turning to Gib, I asked, "So why are you here now?"

Buffy jumped in, "First, how did you know to come here and what do you know about us?"

Gib looked at each of the Scoobies in turn and then began. "Dana, I mean Faith, may not remember, but I am her Godfather. I have always felt a special connection to her, but especially after her parents were lost. Even after she left D.C., I have always kept an eye out for her. When she came to Sunnydale I hoped she was leaving all of her troubles behind and would make a fresh start.

"It wasn't until your run-ins with the Initiative that I found out about slayers and monsters and the existence of real magic. What a shock. Of course, by then Faith had been a coma for many months and then off to prison." Gib shook his head. "You don't know how hard it was to sit by and watch all of those bad things happen and not be able to do anything."

"Anyway, from the Initiative I was able to get dossiers on most of the original 'Scoobies', as you call yourselves. Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Xander." Gib looked at Kennedy. "I am afraid all of my Sunnydale Intel dates from several years ago when the Initiative was disbanded and I have nothing on you or most of the other girls here."

Kennedy smiled. "That's not surprising since most of us have been here only a couple of months."

Gib looked back at me. "I had a tap into the prison's computer system and got a message when you broke out. I had our computer geeks hack into the California Justice Department's computer system shortly after your breakout and remove all of your records. So no one will be looking for you, whether or not you decide to help me. I hope that is all right?"

I nodded. "The prison time was always self-imposed; I could have escaped at any time. I think that time has served its purpose and I don't feel any need to go back."

I paused for a few seconds and then said, "I think it is time to tell us why you are here."

"Six years ago," Gib began. "Word started reaching us about a new and unique weapon being offered on the black market. No details were available except that it involved bioengineering and one name, Alexi Rimnicu. After a lot of digging we found that Rimnicu was based in the small town of Cimpulung deep in the Transylvanian Alps."

"Transylvania?" asked Kennedy. "As in Dracula?"

Gib shrugged, "Well, if you believe in that stuff. Oh right, vampire slayers. I still have trouble getting my head around the whole thing. When we got to Romania on that mission, there was a whole lot of Dracula memorabilia, but at the time it seemed most similar to the 'George Washington slept here' stuff you see all over New England."

"Don't let the tourist industry's whitewashing fool you," said Buffy. "Dracula is real and real scary."

I looked at her and must have had a startled look on my face, as Buffy looked at me and continued, "He was here, in Sunnydale. A couple of years ago during the lull between Adam & the Initiative and the arrival of Glory, maybe six months after you went to prison."

"Dracula was here?" squeaked Kennedy before I had a chance to open my mouth.

"Oh yeah, hypnotic powers and all," said Willow with a glance at Xander. "Xander got to be bug-eating thrall and everything."

"Hey," responded Xander with pretended indignation in his voice. "At least I wasn't playing suck-face with the three vampire sisters like Giles."

"Right," said Giles, as always a little unsettled when he had a moment where he projected less than 'perfect watcher' behavior. "Yes, Dracula exists. Yes, he was in Sunnydale. No, we didn't slay him, but he left. Now I think we better get back to why Gib is here."

"Okay," Gib began again. "Our Intel placed Rimnicu at his place in Cimpulung, an old castle dating originally from the Crusades. As usual, Harry and Helen were the up-front team and were going to infiltrate his organization while I and the backup team set up our main base of operations in Bucharest.

"Rimnicu was about to hold an auction on the product and we had set it up so Harry and Helen appeared to be East German bidders.

"As always seems to be the case with these things, the bad guys held a big, formal party before the start of the auction. With over 30 potential buyers and their entourages, the old castle was really hopping. I was set up in a van near the castle and was in constant radio contact.

"The party had been going on for several hours when the auction finally began. As Harry and Helen headed to the location of the auction, I lost radio contact with them. This was not unexpected as we knew this castle had extensive underground chambers and some kind of demonstration could be expected before the actual auction."

"I didn't expect the whole process to take more than a couple of hours, but when that time limit came and went I started to get concerned. However, they had been through tight spots before without a problem, so it was dawn before I decided to act. Then it took several hours to get some Romanian army units, supported by our commandos, into position.

"When they stormed the castle no signs of Harry or Helen or any of the other buyers or Rimnicu were found. The castle was empty. We spent days going over that castle and the surrounding countryside with a fine tooth comb, but no trace of how they disappeared was ever found," finished Gib.

Giles, who had been sitting with steepled fingers running up and down his nose, said. "Given the locale, I would hazard a guess that some magically means was used to remove everyone. It has been a long time since I have been in Romania. I wish I could remember how far Cimpulung is from the original Hellmouth."

"Original Hellmouth?" blurted out several people simultaneously.

"Quite," said Giles. "You don't think Sunnydale was the first? It is just the one that has been the most active in this century. The original Hellmouth is in the Transylvanian Mountains. It was closed about 350 years ago by the slayer and the Watcher's Council of the time. The Romany have been keeping an eye on it ever since and are suppose to notify the Council at the first sign of any renewed activity."

I happened to glance outside and realized we were about to reach Cambria. In a few minutes we would reach the hospital and I wanted some more information from Gib before we were interrupted.

"Gib, thanks for the info on what happened six years ago, but why did you show up in Sunnydale today?" I asked.

"Two days ago we received a message from the secure backup radio Harry was carrying."

Gib saw my face light up at this news, but he quickly held his hands up in a 'hold your horses' gesture.

"I felt the same way you do when I first saw the message, but there is an anomaly and we aren't certain what it means. The message is definitely from your father, however the radio automatically includes a secure time-stamp on the message and the date on the message is two weeks after their disappearance and not two days ago. Our experts haven't yet been able to come up with an explanation for the difference in dates. So I don't want you getting your hopes too high, as there is no guarantee that your parents are still alive."

I nodded, but it was impossible to turn the hope back off after allowing it back into my soul for the first time in many years.

"I am glad you came to tell me, but I am surprised you didn't mount an immediate rescue operation and why you say you need my help," I answered as I tried to get my thoughts and emotions back under some semblance of control.

"The message was transmitted from a valley about thirty miles west of Rimnicu's castle. We immediately dispatched a team, but all that was found was an old Gypsy woman. She is being brought to D.C. and will be there by this evening.

"The reason I came to find you was that the message included the word 'Demon' twice and the Latin phrase 'in usum Delphini' and a word we haven't been able to translate 'Chentratius'. Now Harry has always been very precise in his radio transmissions. So when he used the word 'demon' I had to take that literally, which immediately brought to mind you and the old documents from the Initiative."

"Giles, Wills," said Buffy. "Any thoughts?"

"Well, the Latin translates as 'for the use of the son of the King' and was at one time used to mean 'purge all records of your predecessors' like the way Communist Russia tried to remove all references to the church and to the Czars," explained Giles.

When he realized everyone was staring at him, he said. "What, just because I have a proper English education that emphasized important things like Latin instead of things like 'new math', I always get that look. How many times has my knowledge of Latin saved the day? Versus how often has 'If Bill is on a train moving east at 27 miles an hour and Jane is on a train moving west at 37 miles an hour, but making an eight minute stop every half hour, how long until they are 53 miles apart?' saved the day?"

"Okay, okay, Giles," said Buffy. "You know we are stuck with the California education system and there is very little we, as students, could do about it. You also know that in my role as guidance counselor I was doing my best to get a Latin teacher back on staff for the first time in 35 years. Now, does 'Chentratius' ringing any bells?"

Giles just nodded to indicate his rant on the American education system was over and then said. "The word sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place it. I sure wish I had my books."

"Willow?" I asked.

She shook her head. "The word doesn't spark anything with me. When I can get to a computer, I will check the net."

"You are welcome to try," said Gib. "But our people have been looking for two days without any results."

I looked over to Giles. "Where would the right books most likely be?"

He sighed. "The First or its people got to my books and most of those belonging to the Council. At this point our best chance is the Wicca group back in England."

Willow nodded. "Their collection is pretty extensive."

"So, it sounds like someone needs to go to England," I stated.

"Right," said Giles. "I think that would be me."

"Ahh," said Willow with a glance towards Kennedy. "I think I should tag along to England also. I am still feeling the effects of all the magic usage in the past few days. I could use a couple of days with the Wicca group to help me get centered again. Besides it looks like the action will be in Romania and England is kinda along the way."

Gib looked at me. "Faith, I would like you to come to D.C. with me. I can get you a position with the 'Omega Force' which will allow this to be a 'sanctioned' operation and will allow full financial backing by the organization. However this situation turns out, you will have the option of leaving afterwards, or if you find you like it, you could stay on."

I sat there momentarily stunned. Had Gib just offered me a job? A job that would actually pay me for what I did best? When I started this long day it seemed unlikely I would live to see the end of it and now I was about to become an agent for some secret government agency. With the Sunnydale Hellmouth gone and slayers activated all over the world, perhaps this was the right time for a change in the direction of my life.

I nodded and said. "Okay, but I want it in writing that I have the option of leaving after this mission."

Gib got this big smile and his shoulders lifted a little like some big weight had been removed.

At this point Kennedy cleared her throat. "Ahh, Gib, I know we just met, but do you think you have room for one more?"

Kennedy looked over to Willow and took her hand. "I know I just got my slayer powers and should take some time to let it sink in, but this feels like the right thing to do. I hope you understand. And I am sure we will meet up again in a few days."

Willow just got this small smile on her face. I could tell it was hard for her as she slowly nodded her head.

Finally, Buffy said. "I need to go to L.A. and let my Dad know Dawn and I are okay. I will see about the injured here first and you can reach me on my pager if or when you need me."

Xander spoke up last saying he wanted to go down to L.A. with Buffy and Dawn. Having lost Spike and Anya during the final battle with 'The First', it was obvious that Buffy and Xander were going to need the most recovery time.

At just that moment the bus arrived at the hospital. After helping to move the seriously injured to stretchers, we shared one final hug and then broke up into three groups heading to England, D.C., and L.A.

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. BDFchapter 2

Boris, Doris, & Faith

Author: 

Chapter 2 - Part 1

Gib sometimes comes across as somewhat of a buffoon, always telling bad jokes and trying to lighten the mood through humor. And sometimes he comes across as a quasi 'yes man' with a grating subservient manner. But underneath it all my Dad always said Gib was the one you went to when you needed to get something done as he had all of the contacts to get things accomplished.

He certainly proved it when we reached the hospital in Cambria. We had barely gotten the injured ones off the bus when a military helicopter landed on the hospital's helipad. Gib, Kennedy, and I were quickly whisked down the coast to Vandenburg Air Force Base where Gib got us on a military cargo jet to fly us to Washington.

I had never been on a military jet before, well excluding a five-minute, terror-filled flight with my Dad, and didn't know what to expect. While this plane had the big open cargo area I was expecting, it also had a small seating area for 20 right behind the cockpit that looked like it had come straight out of an everyday commercial jet.

When the three of us climbed aboard the seating area was empty. I had this fantasy I was joining some 'James Bond Movie' type organization and that the whole plane was at our disposal. However five minutes after we boarded I could hear cargo being loaded in the back and more people started boarding. Gib's 'pull' meant we were able to bump three people who were flying military standby!

It might have been nice if my fantasy had been true, as Kennedy and I were getting a lot of unwelcome stares. Not the 'wow, you are the two hottest babes I have ever seen' unwelcome stares. No, these were the 'Eww, what are you two filthy people doing in our nice clean airplane' unwelcome stares. The day had been moving so fast; we were still wearing the same clothes from the battle with 'The First'. My leather pants and jacket were torn in several places. My white tee shirt was nowhere near white and had several large, nasty bloodstains. Mostly my blood, but fortunately my slayer metabolism had healed the wounds. Kennedy's clothes weren't any better.

And that wasn't even the worst. No, definitely our smell was the worst. There are two kinds of sweat. The good kind you get from a hard workout in the gym or wonderful session in the bedroom. The good kind smells okay in an erotic sort of way. Then there is the bad kind of sweat you get when you are fighting for your life and the fear factor is right up to your eyeballs. After the fight with 'The First' we definitely smelled from of the bad kind of sweat. Add the disgustingly bad odors from the cavern that were lingering in our clothes & hair and I wouldn't want to be seating next to us for a five hour flight either. Gib had been hustling us so fast to make this flight we barely had time to duck into a restroom to wash our hands and faces.

Kennedy and I took a couple of seats in the front while Gib pulled his cell phone and wandered up to the galley. A few minutes later a crew chief brought us a couple of boxed lunches and two bottles of water. Apparently Gib realized it had been quite some time since we had eaten.

As we sat there eating and watching the other people boarding, Kennedy leaned over and asked. "Is it always like this?"

"What?" I asked not certain what she was talking about.

"The rush. My body is throbbing with power. It constantly feels like I need to go run or fight or do something to burn it down a little. It is hard to just sit here," she explained.

"It is always like that for me, unless I am seriously hurt. Eventually you will get use to it. I can ignore the feeling most of the time, but occasionally you just have to do something to burn off some energy. In prison sometimes I would hang from the top bunk by my knees and do stomach crunches. It would drive my cellmates crazy to watch me do crunches steadily for a couple of hours, but at least it had the side benefit of intimidating the other inmates so very few ever messed with me." Giving her a silly grin, I continued, "If it gets to be too much, let me know and we'll put on a little demonstration for the other passengers. Maybe a contest to see which of us can do the most one-handed handstand pushups in 15 minutes."

Kennedy got this cute little frown. "I thought we were suppose to keep a low profile with our slayer abilities."

Just then Gib walked up and sat in the seat on the other side of me.

"Yeah," I responded. "I guess you are probably right and we better do the push ups out of sight of the others."

Turning to Gib, I asked, "Speaking of Slayer abilities, how much do you know about our abilities and how many people in your organization know about us?"

"At this point I believe I am the only one at Omega Force with detailed knowledge of the slayers. A few others are aware of the Initiative and its activities, but without first hand experience their reports about demons and monsters are hard to shallow.

"If we are going to make you part of the organization and immediately let you go into the field," continued Gib. "We are going to have to brief Spencer Trilby, the head of the organization. He will probably need some kind of demonstration to convince him that you're an asset worth breaking rules for. And it may take some convincing. Your father convinced Mr. Trilby to make an exception for your Mom and I think he regrets this decision since it cost you both your parents. He is probably not going to want to risk losing you, too.

"If we do end up putting together a team and going to Romania, I want to brief the other team members to at least some degree. If we understand your capabilities, we can better plan our strategy."

Gib paused for the aircraft's take-off roll and climb-out before continuing. "As far as my knowledge about slayers, it is pretty limited. All I have are Dr. Margaret Walsh's reports. Apparently Buffy became associated with the Initiative a few weeks before Dr. Walsh's death and there are only a few terse entries. First, the slayer has enhanced strength, stamina, healing abilities, and fighting skills compared to a normal person. Second, that there are two slayers, Buffy and Faith."

At this point he glanced over to Kennedy and then asked, "From the comments back on the bus, I take it that Kennedy and some of the other girls are also slayers?"

As Kennedy nodded, I proceeded to give Gib the short version of the history of the slayers. How there had always been just one plus a large group of potentials. Then how we ended up with two active slayers. Finally, how we were able to turn all of the potential slayers in the world into active slayers.

After finishing the history of the slayers, I moved on to the topic of a demonstration for Mr. Trilby.

"If you need to convince Trilby of the value of having a couple of slayers on this mission, round up at least a dozen of your best martial arts people for a little demonstration."

"You really think the two of you can take on a dozen of our best people?" Gib slowly shook his head. "Some of our guys are world class and in their free time compete all over the world."

"You don't understand, only one of us will fight and the one who does is going to have to be careful to pull her punches. 12 on 1 should be a sufficient demonstration. Besides, if we do more than 12, we will have to push the speed up and the odds of someone accidentally getting killed become too high. As it is, I am afraid there will be a fair number of broken bones. You should definitely have some medical staff standing by."

I turned to Kennedy. "How about a coin flip at the start of the demo to see who gets to fight?"

When she shrugged her acceptance I turned back to Gib who was looking a little pale.

"Are you sure you're Harry and Helen's little girl?"

Chapter 2 - Part 2

Between the long flight and the time change it was almost eleven in the evening before we landed at Andrews Airforce Base on the outskirts of Washington. With the late hour and having lost everything but the filthy clothes on our backs in the destruction of Sunnydale, we ended up at WalMart to stock up on clean jeans & tee-shirts and the basic necessities like toothbrushes to get us through the next couple of days.

We were just exiting the store with Gib pushing a cart full of supplies when I felt the tingle. A Vamp. B always claimed she couldn't sense them. Well, I fell at the other extreme. If there was a vamp within a block I could feel it. However my problem is like the time with the mayor's assistant, I can tell there is a vamp within a block, but I can't always differentiate which person it is.

No one was within 20 feet of me except Gib and Kennedy, so I wasn't going to have that problem this time. Even before thinking about it my eyes were already scanning for the vamp and my body was cranking up for combat.

"Kennedy," I asked softly. "Do you feel it?"

"Feel what?" she asked in a conversational tone before she suddenly tensed. "Oh yeah, it's a vampire, right?"

I nodded. Good, it was still at least 150 feet away when she first sensed it.

"What direction," I asked.

We had ground to a halt in the middle of the parking lot, still a couple of rows from Gib's car. Kennedy slowly turned in a circle with one hand outstretched. She stopped with her hand pointed to the corner of the building.

"Around that side of the building," she said as she started moving in that direction.

"Wait," said Gib. "Are you saying there is a vampire here in Arlington?"

"Afraid so," I said as I pulled from the shopping cart the two wooden baseball bats I had forced Gib to purchase.

I handed one to Gib and then grabbed the ends of the other and quickly snapped it in two. I tossed the narrow, pointy half to Kennedy before dropping the larger portion back into the cart. I quickly did the same to the other bat and then pushed the cart between a couple of parked cars.

Gib was just standing there with a dumb look on his face, staring at the portion of the bat still in my hand. I grabbed his arm and started guiding him towards the corner of the store.

"Stay behind me," I said, not wanting Kennedy to get too far ahead. Sure, she had come through the battle with the über-vamps okay, but it was still her first day as a slayer.

As Gib and I rounded the corner, Kennedy had almost reached the pair of vamps. They were like a pair of cats playing with a mouse. Cats in full vamp face mode. The mouse was an attractive young blonde with a couple of WalMart blue plastic shopping bags clasped tightly in one hand.

The two vamps in black jeans, white tee-shirts, black leather jackets, and slicked back hair like something from a bad 50's movie were shoving the girl back and forth between them while talking trash. Spike once told me that the higher the fear in the victim the better the tang of the blood. Good thing for us slayers all vamps seemed to have this same tendency to play with their meal before eating, it sometimes gave us time to act.

Of course, we slayers have our own tradition of starting off with a sarcastic barb when there was time. As Kennedy approached them, it was interesting to see that she had picked up that habit from Buffy and me.

The vamps were so focused on their victim; they didn't notice Kennedy until she called out. "Hey, buttfaces, that girl is way too cute for you, I think she will be a lot happier playing with me."

The two vamps looked at Kennedy and then got big, very toothy grins. The taller one said with a bit of a lisp around his fangs, "How about you come party with us."

"Sorry," said Kennedy as she continued to approach. "I don't swing that way. If I WAS interested in boys, it certainly wouldn't be a skanky pair like you. Now give me the girl before my eyes start turning green. You won't like me when my eyes turn green."

Kennedy was now about eight feet away when the tall one squinted at her stupidly and said, "Your eyes are already green."

"Too bad for you," said Kennedy as she did a fast, hard, high sidekick to his chin.

The vampire went backwards in a flying double somersault, which ended in a very impressive faceplant. Even from 50 feet away Gib and I could hear the satisfying crunch of several vertebrae snapping.

Good, I thought. That will slow him down while Kennedy takes care of the other one.

Kennedy had pivoted straight from the kick towards the remaining vampire and grabbed the wrist, which was holding the girl. She tightened her grip on the pressure point just as we had trained her until his hand opened, releasing the girl.

With her free hand, Kennedy grabbed the girl, pulled her free, and shoved her towards us yelling, "Run!"

Of course, as always seems to happen, getting the victim clear gave the vamps a moment to regroup. The one who had been holding the girl grabbed Kennedy from behind in a bear hug as the other approached from her front. The one approaching her was slowed a little by the way his head was resting flat against his shoulder.

Finally, when he had approached within four feet and started to reach his arms towards her throat, Kennedy made her move. She slammed her head back into the face of the vamp behind her to loosen his grip. Then she walked her feet up the front of the approaching vamp, accelerating as she went until she managed a high backflip over the one holding her. As she descended she did a half twist, that I could never manage, and solidly kicked the vamp in the back forcing him into the other one.

Kennedy landed on her hands and pressed it into a quick handstand before performing two backflips and landing astride the two fallen vamps. As she completed the second rotation she pulled the stake she had tucked in the back of her pants and hidden beneath her jacket.

Landing on the pair she slammed the stake through both their hearts for that always-impressive double-kill.

An all around magnificent display until the final moment when she forgot to close her mouth, sucked in some vamp dust, and started to cough.

As I walked up shepherding Gib and the girl along I had to appauld.

"Woo-hoo. Way to go, K. I loved the backflip over the short one and the half twist to kick him in the back on the way down. I can never quite manage it and have to resort to a leg sweep to bring them down which leaves them within arms reach." As I finished, I gave her a traditional high five.

Then I turned to the girl and checked both sides of her throat. Clean, no blood, no toothmarks.

Still holding her chin in my right hand, I tilted her head back until she was looking me in the eye. "The WalMart parking lot is never a safe place for a pretty girl alone after dark. I hope you will take this incident to heart."

When she nodded, I asked, "Do you have a car or do you need a ride?"

She had a car, so after telling Kennedy to go with Gib to get the cart, I escorted the girl back to her car. By the time I had seen her safely on her way and got back to Gib's car the others were already there, loading the purchases in the trunk.

As we climbed into the car I could tell Kennedy was still wired from the fight. For me the post-fight solution to being wired was food or sex. I decided we better try food this time.

"Hey Gib, anywhere we can get something to eat this time of night?" I asked.

We settled on Chinese take-out. After swinging by there we finally headed over to Gib's house.

Gib still lived in the same house about a mile from my old house. It is kind of small and rather unkempt just like Gib himself. But at that moment all I cared was that it had a lot of hot water for the shower. Therefore while Gib put away the groceries from WalMart and got out some plates for the Chinese, Kennedy and I each grabbed a quick shower. It felt wonderful to have a clean body and clean clothes after what had been one of the longest days in my life.

Now I was ready for some food and then a solid seven hours of sleep. Normally my slayer enhanced body functions fine on four and a half hours sleep, but I knew from experience that after a hard day of fighting and stress I need a little extra to get back to peak performance. And tomorrow looked to be another interesting day, so I wanted to be at my best.

After wolfing down the Chinese and a brief discussion on vampires with Gib, Kennedy and I retired to Gib's guest bedroom. After my parent's disappearance I spent a number of nights in that bedroom. When I entered that room the first thing I noticed was 'Kookie', my stuffed Koala, still sitting on the shelf where I had left it. God, how I use to love Kookie.

We were barely in the bedroom when Kennedy stripped off her tee-shirt and crawled into bed. One look at her eyes and I could see she was still flying high from the fight with the vampires. Generally, I lean toward boys, but once and a while spending some time with girls can be fun too. And Kennedy looked like she was on fire.

Needless to say, I didn't get the seven hours of sleep I was hoping for when I arrived at Gib's house, more like two. I did start to have some understanding of Buffy's attraction for vampires, it was a lot more fun being with someone you didn't have to worry about hurting if you got overzealous. And overzealous we got. When dawn arrived and I saw the state of the room, I was actually a little embarrassed. Me, the badass slayer, embarrassed over the state of a room after sex.

Of course, this wasn't just any room. This was a room from my old life as Dana. Sweet, innocent Dana. It brought back memories and feelings I hadn't had in a long time. Therefore, the embarrassment. Compounded by the fact that Gib couldn't have helped hearing some of it. I mean when the bed collapsed like a scene out of an old movie and Kennedy started screaming at the top of her lungs. God.

Chapter 2 - Part 3

Breakfast started as a pretty somber affair. Gib was being the real gentleman with no mention of all the noise coming from the guest bedroom the night before, but obviously I was still little Dana in his mind and he was bothered by my behavior.

Kennedy was also very subdued. One look at her eyes and I knew she was bothered by what we had done. Not that the sex wasn't great, but that she was in love with Willow and felt she had betrayed her.

I reached over for my fourth piece of toast to go with the six eggs, four strips of bacon, and two helpings of hash browns. Gib's cooking and a slayer's metabolism made a wonderful combination. Finally, I tried to clear the air.

"Come on guys, it is stupid to pretend last night didn't happen. Gib, I am not fourteen year old Dana anymore. I am a slayer and a slayer's life is generally hard, scary, and short. You learn to grab pleasure where you can find it."

Turning to Kennedy, I continued. "K, yesterday was your first day as a slayer and it was about as intense as the first day can be. I mean being part of an apocalypse on your first day; even Buffy and I didn't experience that. So, of course, your emotions were on overload. I know from personal experience that like the constant rush you feel for combat, you also feel an almost overwhelming urge for sex after a slaying. Don't worry, you will learn to control it."

Kennedy still had an uncomfortable expression on her face. I reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "Did last night change your feelings for Willow?"

Kennedy shook her head. "No, I still love her." She looked at me and then dropped her eyes. "Last night was just sex. Oh, don't get me wrong, it was great sex, but just sex. I don't want to lose her."

"K talk to her. Willow has been through a lot in her life. I know she will understand. But it is important that you talk to her about this. Listen to an expert, secrets cause more harm in the long run than a painful truth." I lifted her chin. "Please talk to Willow."

I stared into her eyes until she finally gave a small nod of her head.

I leaned back in my chair. "Okay, what's on the agenda for today?"

Gib glanced down at his watch and then stood up. "We have a meeting in Mr. Trilby's office in 90 minutes. It's about a 45 minute drive from here so we need to clean up the kitchen and be on our way."

A quick twenty minutes later, we were out the door and piling into Gib's car. Gib was dressed in his usual sports coat and slacks. Apparently, casual business attire hadn't reached the spy business yet. Kennedy and I were however a lot more casual: jeans, tee-shirts, and battered leather jackets. We had done what we could to clean up the jackets, but late spring in Washington was still too cool to leave them behind. At least WalMart had stocked my favorite lipstick, Midnight Passion, a deep burgundy shade, almost plum.

Gib drove us into central Washington. I was surprised when he pulled into the parking garage under a typical office building, about ten stories tall with the standard glass and metal exterior. We got out of the car and walked over to the elevator. We entered the elevator and I was just about to ask Gib about the mundane location of the agency when he inserted a key and the elevator started to go down instead of up. Not some impossible distance like in the movies, more like five or six floors.

The elevator opened into a small alcove with a secretary behind a desk. At the only door, Gib swiped a badge he pulled from his jacket pocket and punched his access code. The door clicked and Gib waved us through. We entered a short twenty-foot long hall. At the end it turned 90 degrees and extended another twenty feet before widening out into a much larger area. At the entrance to this larger area was another desk this time with two armed and uniformed security guards. Beyond the security desk were three hallways heading off in different directions. Also beyond the security desk was the normal hustle and bustle of a typical office.

Gib stepped up to the security desk and told the security guard on the left that we had an appointment with Mr. Trilby. The guard nodded and pointed to the hallway off to the left.

As Gib ushered us down the indicated hallway he said, "The first stop is the security office to get you temporary badges. No big deal, just get your photo taken and sign a couple of non-disclosure security forms."

A middle-aged woman manned the badge room. After Gib explained what we needed, the woman started by taking our photos. Then she asked me for my name to put on the badge.

I looked briefly over to Gib before deciding this was one of those times requiring my real name. "Dana Tasker," I responded.

"Any relation to Helen?" she asked.

"My mom," I responded, perhaps a little tersely.

She didn't seem to take any offense. "It was so sad when they disappeared on that mission. We try to be somewhat of a family here, since we can't discuss our jobs with our real families. When someone doesn't come back, it is really hard on all of us, but especially when it is someone like your mom. Even though she was only here for a couple of years, she had made a lot of friends."

"Now, dear," she continued. "Do you have a nickname you would like on your badge?"

"Nickname?" I asked sort of dumbly.

"Sure," she said holding up her own badge. "See, my name is Katherine Anne Harmon, but everyone calls me Kat. So I have Kat in big, easy to read letters above the photo and K.A. Harmon in small letters below."

"Ah, I didn't realize you would do that. I go by Faith."

"Well, then Faith it is. As I said, we try to be one big family here."

I was smiling as Kat turned to Kennedy. "And your name, dear?"

In the same way I had always been just Faith, Kennedy had always been just Kennedy. So I was surprised when she answered. "Rose DuPont."

Kennedy had never flaunted it, but also she had never made a secret that her family was well off. However, the DuPonts?

"DuPont?" I asked. "As in DuPont Chemicals?"

"Yeah, my step-father is on the board of directors. He heads up the finance committee. He is also on the boards of a number of other big companies. He doesn't need the money, but that's what he loves to do."

"If you don't mind my asking," said Gib. "Where did the name Kennedy come from?"

Kennedy shrugged. "It's no big secret. My mom remarried when I was five and my parents decided it was best if I was legally adopted and my last name changed to DuPont. My last name at birth was Kennedy. When Charles from the Watcher's Council first contacted me, he told me it was not uncommon for slayer's to pick new names when they were called. Sort of like nuns changing names. Anyway I had never cared that much for Rose or Rosie as my mom calls me, so rather than wait until I was called I decided to change it when Giles showed up to escort me to Sunnydale."

Suddenly, things clicked together in my head. Maybe it was my time in Boston where they were always in the news. "Are you saying your birth name is Rose Kennedy, as in 'The Rose Kennedy'?"

Kennedy nodded. "I was named for my great grandmother. My grandfather was Bobbie, although he was assassinated almost twenty years before I was born. All I know about him is from documentaries and some old home movies."

"So you are one of the heirs to the DuPont fortune, a Kennedy by birth, and now a slayer," I marveled.

"Yeah, and now that you have known me for a while I am sure you understand why I think of myself as Kennedy rather than as a DuPont. I mean, who has ever heard of a wild DuPont? It just doesn't happen. But a wild Kennedy? It seems natural."

As Kennedy finished speaking, Kat handed us our new badges. After signing about a zillion forms, okay maybe five, we were finished at the badge office.

Before we left Kat had some final instructions. "These temporary badges are good for a week. You don't need to return the badges here everyday. You can leave them at the guard desk and they will keep them until the next day."

At this point she reached across the counter and shook our hands. "I hope things work out. I hope to see you back sometime to get a permanent badge."

"Thanks for your help." I said and found I actually meant it.

After that we headed back past the security desk and down one of the other corridors. This corridor ended in a large open office area. At least forty computer workstations separated by short four-foot cubicle walls. At that moment I was glad I was the slayer. My life might be dangerous, but spending every day sitting at a computer would bore me to death.

After we past the cubicle area we entered another hallway, this one lined with conference rooms and executive offices. At the end of the hallway was a much larger office with a private secretary, obviously for the person in charge.

Gib stopped at the secretary's desk. "Good morning, Mrs. Jamison. We are here for the 9:30 meeting with Mr. Trilby."

Mrs. Jamison responded with a cool, professional smile. "Good morning, Albert. The meeting has been moved to the secure conference room. Mr. Trilby is on a conference call, but will join you shortly."

Gib nodded his thanks and turned to us. "This way ladies." He then headed back the way we had come. At the third door on the right he stopped and swiped his badge again. The room we entered already had four people sitting on one side of the long conference table. Gib directed us to seats on the opposite side of the table before he walked over to a small table in the corner and picked up the phone.

The others, three men and one woman, gave us a curious look and then went back to their conversation. Two of the men and the woman were all young and attractive. Well, young for the spy business, but pretty old by slayer standards, maybe upper twenties. The remaining man was at least in his early fifties.

I waited for someone to make introductions, but none of the others seemed so inclined and Gib stayed on the phone. My patience was starting to wear thin when the door to the conference room opened and another man entered.

From the instant quiet that overcame the others, it was apparent this was Spencer Trilby. He was tall, well built, about 65 and had the commanding presence of someone like Charlton Heston. Plus he wore an eye patch, similar to Xander's, which added to the overall effect. I wonder if Xander's will also make him look more distinguished in another forty years?

Gib quickly ended his call and hurried over to sit by us while Trilby took a seat at the head of the table. Trilby looked over at us and then asked in a deep, craggy voice, "Which one of you is Dana Tasker?"

I considered my usual sarcastic response, but decided it might not be the best approach here. No, these people looked to respond better to strength. I had discovered during my time in prison that it was possible to project my slayer strength with just my voice. Most of the other inmates would back down when I used my 'slayer voice'. Only the truly insane would keep coming and force a fight. Of course, there were plenty of the truly insane in prison, but hopefully these people weren't.

"I AM DANA TASKER, ALTHOUGH MY FRIENDS AND ENEMIES CALL ME FAITH. ONLY THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW OF ME CALL ME DANA." I answered in my most menacing tone. "AND WHO ARE ALL OF YOU?"

I have to give Trilby credit; he only scowled a little harder with his one good eye. The response in the others was more dramatic. The four across the table all blanched. One of the younger men gasped, slide his chair back, and reached into his jacket as though he was going for a gun in a shoulder holster.

Trilby quickly said, "Stand down, Daniels."

Even the people on my side of the table were caught by surprise. Gib let out a nervous little laugh. Kennedy had only seen me use my 'slayer voice' once or twice to distract vamps, but never on normal humans. She leaned over and whispered. "You need to teach me how to do that."

I just nodded, but kept my attention focused on Trilby. If I was going to become involved with this organization, I wanted to have as much power and freedom of action as possible.

After a moment Trilby stated, "Okay Faith, I am Spencer Trilby and I run the Omega Force. These are the people I have assigned to coordinate the search for your parents."

Then he proceeded to introduce the four across the table. Walter Stevens, the older gentleman, communications and encryption specialist. Rebecca Fairchild, field ops, weapons and linguistics specialist. Pete Daniels, field ops and vehicle specialist. Kelly MacDonald, computer specialist.

At this point he glanced over at Gib with an annoyed look on his face. "Gibson, here, seems to have assigned himself to this mission."

I shot Gib a glance. He shrugged his shoulders and got a sheepish expression on his face.

I turned back to Trilby and responded with my normal voice. "Gib brought me in because I have a personal interest in finding my parents. Plus he knew I had special gifts that would be an asset on this mission. Although he didn't really understand my abilities and only in the past 24 hours has started to get an inkling of what I can do.

"Now that I am aware that my parents may still be alive, I intend to find some answers. Gib thought we should work as a team, but if you disagree, then we can each pursue our own investigations. However from the little Gib has told me, I think you are in over your heads this time and are going to need my help before this is over."

The young guy who had gone for his gun, Daniels, was obviously a hothead, jumping into the conversation between his boss and me.

"What help can a couple of teenage girls provide?" He snarled. "We have the whole fucking U. S. Government for backup."

I picked at a torn fingernail for a minute realizing I should have picked up a manicure kit at WalMart last night. Finally I looked back over to Trilby and asked, "Have you learned anything useful from the old Gypsy lady?"

Trilby glanced at Gib and then responded. "Rebecca, please bring us up to date."

Rebecca Fairchild was almost the stereotypical female secret agent from the movies. Tall, almost six foot. Blonde with shoulder length straight hair. Athletic. The only thing marring the traditional look was the small pair of frameless glasses she was wearing. I found myself wondering what it would feel like to remove those glasses and stare directly into the ice blue eyes they were hiding. I guess the night with Kennedy was still affecting my thinking.

The woman seated across from us sat up a little straighter and answered, "Yes, sir." She tapped a purple mechanical pencil against the legal pad in front of her. "Unfortunately, there isn't much to tell yet. The woman arrived at nine o'clock last night. We had Professor Hunedoara, our consultant on southeast European languages from Georgetown University, standing by. He spent over an hour with her before giving up. Apparently she speaks some variation of the Romany language he doesn't know. Professor Hunedoara suggested three others that may be able to help us, language professors at SMU, Yale, and the University of Oregon. So far I have been unable to contact any of these individuals."

"You're telling me we've made no progress on the one solid lead we have?" asked Trilby.

Rebecca slowly nodded.

For the first time during the meeting Kennedy spoke up. "I may be able to help."

"You speak the old lady's language?" asked Rebecca with a surprised look.

Kennedy looked at me while chewing on her lower lip. "Willow gave me something before we left California. Not much as she didn't have many supplies left, but it should allow us to communicate with the woman for maybe an hour. Willow said she would make some talismen when she got to England that would solve our language problems while in Romania."

Rebecca asked, "Who is this Willow and what is this talk about talisman?"

I took a deep breath and stepped back into the conversation. This was always the hard part, convincing a room full of people of the existence of magic and demons and hell dimensions. Where was Willow to put on a little demonstration when I needed her?

"Willow is a friend of ours. She is a very powerful witch." I said.

"A witch," scoffed Daniels. "As in broomsticks, cauldrons, and long hooked noses with hairy moles?"

"You better be careful not to say things like that to her face. I don't think you would enjoy spending life as a rat," I replied with just a hint of a smile.

Kennedy jumped in to Willow's defense. "Hey, that's not fair. Willow didn't turn Amy into the rat. Amy did that to herself. Is it Willow's fault it took her three years to come up with a way to turn her back?"

I turned back to Trilby. "Magic is real. It doesn't intrude into your world often, but it is an integral part of mine. From what Albert has told me about the message you received from my father, I think his last mission drifted across the line into the world of magic."

"If magic exists," began Trilby. "How did Harry and Helen Tasker's little girl end up involved with it?"

"It's a long story, but here's the short version. Through out history one girl is chosen to defend the world against demons, vampires, and other things that go bump in the night. This girl is given special fighting abilities. This girl is the Slayer. When one Slayer is killed another is called. Four years ago when the previous slayer was killed I was called."

"And your friend here?" he asked.

"This is Kennedy. While there has always been only one slayer, there are many potential slayers. Who is chosen when the current slayer dies has always been a mystery. Anyway while we were fighting a big bad yesterday we broke the spell that always limited the world to one slayer and turned all of the potentials into slayers. So as of yesterday there may be forty to fifty slayers scattered around the world and Kennedy happens to be one of them."

At this point Gib spoke up. "The demo should be ready about now down in the training center."

"What demo?" inquired Trilby.

"We thought a little demonstration might convince you of the value of having a couple of slayers on your team, even if you are not yet willing to believe in magic. Although I think when you see the magic translation spell work on the old Gypsy woman you may start changing your mind a little about the realities of magic." I answered as I climbed to my feet.

"Mr. Trilby, if you would join us down in the training center," said Gib. "I think you will find this interesting."

"Hmm, I think I will do just that. It has been a long time since anything 'interesting' has happened inside this facility," said Trilby as he also stood up. "Rebecca, Daniels, you're with us. The rest of you, back to work."

With that the meeting was adjourned and Gib led us out of the conference room.

Chapter 2 - Part 4

We followed Gib down two floors to the training level. It was becoming obvious that this facility had a staff well into the hundreds. I was curious about how that many people could enter through the parking garage we came in without outsiders noticing. Gib explained that there were five different entrances to the facility scattered in different parking structures around the area. We had used that one because it was designed for first time visitors who needed to stop in the badge office.

The stairway down to the training level let us out in a weight room that could have been found in many upscale gyms. Off in the distance I could hear the muffled sounds of weapons fire, which is not something you hear in many upscale gyms. Fortunately, the soundproofing was quite good and the noise was not too annoying.

As we were walking towards an exit from the weights area at the far side of the room, Kennedy stopped by a man who was just finishing doing bench presses. The man was built a lot like my father, massive upper body slimming down to narrow hips and waist. Now I see where my Dad maintained his impressive physique.

Kennedy walked up to the man and said, "Can I try that? How much is the weight?"

The man, who was at least 6'3" and about 260 lbs, all muscle, looked at Kennedy, who is barely 5'4" and 105 lbs, and said, "200 Kilos."

Kennedy gave an uncomprehending stare and asked, "How much is that in real numbers?"

"That's 440 lbs. If you want to try it, let me take off the weights. The bar alone is 45 lbs and a good place to start, if you have never done this before," he replied with a surprising helpful tone.

I stepped forward and said, "How about letting me adjust the weights for you? I have done this a few times before." Then I proceed to add two more 25-kilo weights to each end of the bar.

"There," I said motioning Kennedy to the bench. "I always find 660 lbs a comfortable warm up amount before moving to the serious weights."

When the weightlifter gave me a dubious stare, I said, "Let me spot for you, so no one gets hurt."

The weightlifter merely shrugged assuming both of us together wouldn't be able to budge the bar, so he saw little need to interfere.

"Okay," I said to Kennedy. "Let's try a set of 30 reps with a nice smooth motion."

Kennedy firmly grasped the bar and got this very serious expression on her face. She cautiously lifted the bar off of the stand and lowered it down to her chest. After the first complete rep she paused and said, "Shit, Faith, this is too easy."

I smiled. "Let's see you get to 30 and then see if you still want to say that."

Kennedy grinned and started a steady up and down motion. At thirty she eased the bar back onto the stand and laid back. "The last couple were starting to hurt a little, let me rest a minute before you up the weight."

By this time we had drawn a small crowd of weightlifters in addition to the people who had come down from the conference room with us.

I looked over to the guy who had been doing the bench presses when we arrived and asked, "So what is the bench-press record here?"

He looked at me with a dumbfounded expression on his face and said, "Until today, the record was 255 kilos held by one of the old timers, Harry Tasker."

I had to smile at this reference to my Dad. I guess he wasn't totally forgotten by his old organization.

Trilby asked, "Was this your demo?"

"This?" I shook my head. "No, this was just for Kennedy's curiosity. She just got her 'gifts' yesterday and is still trying to understand her limits. Of course, the longer you are a slayer the stronger you become. If everyone would step back and give me some space I will show you."

After I had everyone backed away a good 15 feet I grabbed the dumbbell in the center with my right hand and lifted it off of the stand. I hoisted it over my head and started spinning it like an oversized cheerleader's baton. After a few seconds of that I proceeded into the normal warm-up routine I would do with a Thai fighting staff. It was a little awkward with 300 lbs at each end, but I just thought of it as the way batters put weights on the end of the bat during the warm-up swings.

After a two-minute routine of thrusts, parries, and swinging the bar around my body I ended with a thrust towards Daniels that ended two inches from his nose. He was the one who most needed to learn that I was the meanest, toughest person in the building. After holding the position for about five seconds, I withdrew and walked over to return the dumbbell to its stand.

As I turned around the round of applause I received from the clustered weightlifters surprised me. I laughed and then gave my best attempt at a feminine curtsy, not something I practiced often when battling vamps and demons. I got this surprisingly warm feeling inside that this would be a fun place to workout. The guys seemed to appreciate my abilities without completely freaking out.

As I walked back over to where Trilby and Gib were standing I stretched the muscles in my back and arms and said, "That was a pleasant warm-up. Usually I have to go into a fight cold. How about we proceed with the demo now?"

Trilby turned to Gib. "Gibson, exactly what is this demo you have planned?"

Gib, who was staring at me like he was overwhelmed by the things he had seen Kennedy and me do over the past 24 hours, finally turned to Trilby. "Faith requested that I gather the 12 best martial artists we have and she would fight them all at once to demonstrate her abilities and why she should be sent on the mission to look for her parents. On such short notice I was only able to locate nine guys. However three of the nine just witnessed this little display and none of them look too excited about fighting her."

Trilby looked back over at me. "In the good old days I use to be pretty good at martial arts, particularly with a staff or a sword. Even at my peak I couldn't move an eight-pound staff with the speed and precision you were showing with that 300-kilo dumbbell. I will concede that you can probably take my 12 best men in a fight." At this point he held out his hand to me. "I will happily welcome you and your friend aboard for this mission without the demo."

Gib got the goofy grin he gets when everything works out the way he planned. Kennedy was also all smiles that we would be proceeding forward with the mission.

I smiled at Trilby, who suddenly didn't seem to be that bad of a fellow, and shook the offered hand. "Great. I didn't want to have to hurt anyone just to prove a point. How about we go see the old Gypsy lady? Now that we are all on the same team I would like to start focusing on the mission."

Trilby nodded. "Normally, I would leave this to the specialists like Rebecca, but I am curious about this 'magical' translation method. If it works and these talisman you were talking about work, it could revolutionize our whole operation."

As we exited the exercise room I was trying to explain, based on my limited knowledge, the pros and cons of using magical devices for mundane tasks. I definitely needed to talk to Willow and Giles before making any commitments.

End of Chapter 2


	3. BDFchapter 3

Boris, Doris, & Faith

Author: 

Chapter 3 - Part 1

We left the exercise area by the same route we had entered. As we climbed the stairs, Trilby stopped at the first landing.

"Before we talk to the old Gypsy lady," Trilby said, as he reached for the door handle to the exit from the stairwell on this level. "Let's stop in the lab and see if Doc has come up with any useful information from Harry's radio transmitter."

This level of the complex seemed to be dedicated to building and testing various types of equipment. Peering through the windows in the doors we past, I could see rooms filled with machine shop type equipment, rooms that looked like chemistry labs, and even rooms filled with technicians in full clean-room environmental gear like in a microprocessor fabrication facility. Finally, after what felt like a half-mile walk down this corridor, Trilby opened a door and we walked into a room that could've come straight from a college electronics lab. The room was filled with oscilloscopes, microscopes, computer workstations, and five or six workbenches covered with bits of electrical components and soldering gear.

Six people were working in the lab, but Trilby headed straight to a pair working at a microscope in the back corner. An older, white-haired woman was using the microscope, while a twentysomething guy was entering data into a handheld tablet PC as she spoke.

Trilby waited a moment until the woman paused in her monologue, then said. "Doc, I have someone I would like you to meet."

The woman straightened, turned towards us, and pulled the glasses that had been resting on her forehead while she used the microscope back down onto her nose. "Hello, Spencer. This must be a very special occasion to bring you down here from your ivory tower. What has it been, about two years since your last visit?" She said this with a little glint in her eye indicating this wasn't a serious chastisement of his behavior.

Trilby ignored her barb and continued lightly, "This is Harry and Helen Tasker's daughter, Faith, and her friend, Kennedy. Faith, this is 'Doc' Whitehall, the chief scientist of my organization. She has been personally inspecting your father's backup radio we found on the old Gypsy lady."

Doc Whitehall, a sixtyish woman with a slight British accent, reached out and gave me a brisk handshake. "It is so nice to see you again. My, you have grown into a beautiful woman. The last time we meet, shortly after your mother joined us, you were just a little slip of a girl, but then the older I get the faster time seems to pass by." She patted my hand a couple of times before letting it go and turning to shake Kennedy's hand.

After the introductions were made, Trilby was all business. "So tell us, Doc. Have you found out anything useful from Harry's radio?"

Doc shook her head and said. "It is very strange. The message we received from it three days ago was dated two weeks after Harry disappeared." At this point she paused and looked at me as if judging my reaction to this discussion of my parents' disappearance. I nodded that I was okay and for her to continue. She nodded in return.

"At first I thought the message had been recorded six years ago and then retransmitted three days ago. But now having the actual radio to test, I have several bits of data indicating something stranger is going on. I had just opened it up to see if there were any signs of internal tampering."

At this point she turned to me. "Would you like to see the radio?"

I said sure, but didn't see what benefit my looking at a radio would have. I am not a freaking electrical expert.

She led me over to the microscope she had been using when we entered the lab. After she showed me the focus adjustment knob, I bent and looked through the eyepiece.

Once it came into focus, I realized I was looking at a device about the size of a paper match like you find in a book of matches from a bar. The case was open and I could see delicate internal circuitry with finely etched ID numbers, which were what she had been reading off when we arrived. The other thing I noticed was the dark reddish-brown substance clinging to the outer surface of the case. My slayer senses tingled slightly as I realized it was blood.

I moved aside to let Kennedy have a look before I turned to Doc and asked, "Why does the outside of the case have traces of blood?"

"The radios are implanted into the agent's bodies. Wherever Harry was, he must have known the signal couldn't get back to us. So apparently he cut it out and gave it to the old Gypsy lady. Once it has been activated it sends a twenty second loop of recorded data."

I suddenly had this vision of Spike with the chip in his head from the Initiative. From the expression on her face she must have seen me blanch at this info. Once I had my voice back under control, I asked, "You actually implant devices into your own people's bodies?"

"Just these emergency transmitters, dear. It is a simple procedure; they are inserted under the skin on the inside of the upper arm. Very similar to the procedure used to insert the Norplant birth control devices many women use these days. The whole insertion process takes two minutes and is quite painless. Removing the radio in the field would be more painful, but certainly not a life-threatening procedure."

My heart rate slowed a little now that I knew nobody had cut open my Dad's head to get the device out.

Trilby tried to get the discussion back on track by asking, "So Doc, you said you had a couple bits of data after inspecting the radio?"

Doc nodded. "Yes. First, the internal clock is showing a date approximately two and a half weeks after the disappearance, not six years. Secondly, the radio is powered by a minuscule dot of radioactive cesium-90. The cesium-90 can power the radio for five years and has a very predictable decay curve. This radio was implanted in Harry two years before the incident and should have stopped functioning three years ago. But based on the decay rate of the cesium, this radio has only been functioning a little over two years."

She shrugged her shoulders before concluding, "I have no explanation for it, but from the viewpoint of this radio it is about two or three weeks after the incident, not six years."

This conversation tickled at something in my memory for several seconds before it came to me. I snapped my fingers and said, "Connor."

Gib asked whom I was talking about, but I raised my finger indicating I needed a moment to think. Suddenly, some of what was going on became clear.

"Connor is the son of an old acquaintance of mine out in L.A. The mystical kind of acquaintance. Anyway Connor was kidnapped as an infant and raised in a hell-dimension. Time runs differently in hell-dimensions. When Connor returned to our world three months later, he was no longer an infant, but a boy of eighteen.

"Gib, you said you explored Rimnicu's castle and the cavern underneath and couldn't figure out how all the people at that party disappeared. I think Rimnicu opened a doorway to a hell-dimension. A dimension were time runs much slower than here. A dimension where only two weeks have passed while six years have passed here." I got a really big smile as I realized the odds my parents were still alive had just increased greatly.

Doc took a step closer to me. "Hell-dimensions. Time running at different rates. Girl, what are you talking about?"

At this point, Kennedy jumped into the conversation. "Faith is right. Willow told me about a lot of the history of the Scoobies saying you never know when some of the info would come in handy. A couple of other times they have had dealings with Hell-dimensions where time moved at different rates. One time Buffy had to push Angel into a hell-dimension to close a portal and to prevent a powerful demon from entering our world. Angel was trapped in that dimension for a thousand years before escaping, but when he got back only three months had passed in Sunnydale."

Rebecca was the first to ask, "How could this Angel person live for a thousand years before returning?"

Kennedy matter-of-factly replied he was a vampire before continuing. "Another time Buffy got sucked into a hell-dimension where demons were kidnapping young adults and using them for slave labor. In that dimension sixty years passed for every day in our world. The demons were returning the people one day later, but now they were in their eighties rather than their twenties, and therefore no one recognized them. So we know of at least three different hell-dimensions were time runs at a different rate than here. All three of those have time running faster than here, but nothing says the one we're concerned with today couldn't have time that runs slower."

Something Kennedy said caused a sharp twinge in my heart. My parents hadn't abandoned me six years ago. From their perspective it had only been two weeks, not even their longest assignment away from home before their disappearance.

The prison shrink, who I was required visit, said all of my problems stemmed from feelings that my parents had abandoned me. If my parents hadn't really abandoned me, what did that mean to me? Was I suddenly going to revert to the naïve, happy person I was at 13? Yeah, right, that is so not going to happen!

But then another thought occurred to me. To them it was only three weeks since my thirteenth birthday. Would they recognize me now that I was nineteen? Would they be able to accept my life as a slayer? Or even worse, my years in prison? I am sure my parents had dreams of a bright future for me. How would they feel about the many dark things I had done?

I was still deep in thought about my family as the meeting with Doc broke up and everyone headed towards the door.

Gib looked at me and then stepped closer and asked in a low voice, "Do you need a break before we go see the old lady?"

I shook my head. "No, I need something like that to distract me from thinking about my parents for a little while."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "At first I was so happy realizing if only two weeks had passed for them since the disappearance the odds of them still being alive are much better. Then I realized that they would still be expecting me to be a quiet, little, suburban, thirteen-year-old girl. But what are they going to get? Maybe the most badass nineteen-year-old girl in the world. Creatures exist who are so scary, if you ran into them in a dark alley, you would piss in your pants. But those same creatures would cross the street to avoid running into me. How are Mom and Dad going to be able to accept me when all I am is the ultimate killing machine?"

Gib motioned for the others to proceed without us and then pulled me into a hug. "Dana, you are more than just a killing machine or you wouldn't be so worried about what your parents will think about your life. Your parents are still going to love you. And I know them; they are going to blame a lot of it on themselves for not being there for you. In the end you are going to have to be strong and help each other get through this."

Gib held me for a couple more minutes and then let go. "Dana, are you ready to focus on the mission? All your worries will be moot if we aren't able to get your parents back."

I wiped my eyes and nodded. "Let me go wash my face a minute. And, Gib? Thanks."

After visiting the restroom and getting a couple of candy bars and cokes to get our sugar and caffeine levels back up, Gib and I set off to catch up with the others and then interview an old lady.

Chapter 3 - Part 2

The complex had its own small infirmary. We found the others waiting outside an isolation ward where the Gypsy woman was being housed.

I was still in a melancholy mood when we arrived, but listening to Kennedy explain the translation spell to Trilby, Rebecca, and Daniels quickly drew me back into the world of magic. No matter how many demons and vamps I slayed, it was always the magic that intrigued me the most. Not that I had any innate magic skills myself. And my luck with magical devices . . . well, the magical device the mayor left for me, which allowed me to switch bodies with Buffy, ultimately just pushed me one more step down the path to prison. Still, magic continues to fascinate me.

The ingredients for the translation spell, which Kennedy pulled from the back pocket of her jeans in a small plastic bag, consisted of two small, rice sized crystals, one light green and the other deep purple; three dried lotus petals, and a page torn from an old pocket dictionary. The page and the petals would be burned. The crystals would be dropped into the flame during the incantation of a short key phrase. At the completion of the recitation the crystals would be crushed underfoot and the power of the spell would be released. Then, if all went well, everyone present would be able to understand each other.

At the end of her description Kennedy asked if everyone was ready. When everyone nodded Rebecca had the orderly, stationed outside the room, open the door.

The six of us trooped into the room. Fortunately, the room was larger than I was expecting. To the left someone had arranged half a dozen folding chairs in a semicircle facing the center of the room. Along the right wall was a standard hospital style bed. Straight ahead, near the far wall, was a comfortable looking lounge chair facing the door. Sitting in the chair was the woman we had come to see.

The woman was a lot younger than I was expecting. I had created this mental image of someone in her eighties. In reality she looked in her late fifties, certainly a little younger than either Trilby or the Doc. The woman's hair was her most striking feature, mostly black with a couple of very distinctive white streaks; one near the center and one at her right temple creating a highly asymmetric pattern. Her complexion and eyes were both dark with the eyes both bright and very alive.

When we entered, the woman quickly rose to her feet. I had barely noticed her contemporary black skirt and white blouse before she walked straight up to me. She reached out and touched my hands, my arms near the elbows, my shoulders, and finally, my cheeks. Then looking into my eyes she quietly stated, "Dana," as though she knew me.

I was startled. I knew we had never met and no way would I have matched any description given by my parents. How did she know who I was? And did she speak English? Had she been stonewalling the previous people who had tried to interview her?

"How do you know me?" I asked.

She gave a small shrug of her shoulders and then responded in a language I didn't understand.

I looked over to Kennedy; "It looks like we are going to need Will's spell."

She nodded and crouched down in the center of the semi-circle of chairs. As the others started to take seats, Gib and Daniels dragged the lounge chair over to a spot facing the other chairs. I guided the Gypsy woman over to the lounger and took my own seat as Kennedy lit the page with a match.

None of our new allies, Trilby, Daniels, Rebecca, and Gib, had experienced a real magical spell before and they were all watching intently. As soon as the flame glowed brightly, Kennedy began the words and dropped the crystals. When she finished the words she brought the heel of her booted foot down sharply. Immediately, twined tendrils of green and purple smoke emerged and rapidly spiraled out until they entered everyone's ears.

When the smoke entered my ears, it seemed like I heard a clear crystal bell. I looked over the gypsy woman and repeated my question, "How do you know me?" To my own ears, my voice didn't sound any different.

But obviously the spell was working as the woman smiled and responded. "I could feel it in your aura and the connection to your father. You are the current slayer, correct?"

"But how could you know that from my father? He knows nothing about slayers." I was totally lost as to what she was talking about.

Apparently, she could see the bewilderment on my face and explained. "Gypsy magic runs strongly in my family. When my daughter became the slayer five years ago, I could feel the change. Ten days ago, a couple of days after I met your father, I suddenly felt a similar sensation in connection with him. I just knew that someone close to him had become the slayer."

"Your daughter is a slayer?" I asked, surprised at this turn of events.

"Was," she said as a look of sadness fleetingly crossed her face. "Shortly after her success closing the Hellmouth, we entered this hell-dimension in pursuit of the demon Chentratius. Kira stopped him, but was mortally wounded in the process."

I reached over and clasped her hand. "I am sorry about your daughter. Did you say she closed the Hellmouth? How long have you been in the hell-dimension?"

"A little over two years, why?"

Hmm, I worked the math in my head. If one week there equaled three years here, then one year would equal about 150 years and two years would be 300. If the Transylvania Hellmouth had been closed about 350 years ago, like Giles had said, then the times all fit together reasonable well.

Just to be certain I asked, "What year did you enter the hell-dimension?"

"It was 1657, why?"

"Time runs much slower there than here. It is now the year 2003."

"Ahh, that would explain all of the strange things I have seen since I have been here. I was afraid I had just exchanged one hell-dimension for another."

At this point Trilby jumped into the conversation. "Since we don't know how long this . . . ahh . . . spell will last, I think we better focus on gathering intel that will help us retrieve your parents. Madam, what is your name and what can you tell us?"

"I am Nadia Troesmis. My gift or curse is an ability to open doorways between dimensions. However I can't open doorways at just any old time, but only when certain things come into confluence. For this specific hell-dimension, I had to wait two years to open a doorway back to here. This window is three weeks long and ends in two more days and then it will be another two years to the next window."

"Two days," exclaimed Daniels. "That's not enough time to get to Romania and then plan and execute an op."

I shook my head. "That's two days in the hell-dimension, but almost a year here. However, if we spend too much of it here it won't give us much time on the other side to find and rescue my parents. Plus, I, for one, want to return to the present, not the earth of 2350!"

"Okay, now that we have the time frame for this mission determined, what can you tell us about what we are going to run into on the other side?" Asked Trilby.

While I waited for Nadia to respond, I could see why Spencer Trilby was in charge of this organization. Even though he had never heard of a hell-dimension before one hour ago, he wasn't letting that stop him from figuring out what was need to get my parents back. I was beginning to like the way he put his people first.

After thinking a moment, Nadia responded to Trilby's question. "We will need to start from the caverns below the castle in Cimpulung. From there I can open a doorway into a sheltered woods a couple of miles from Chentratius' fortress, Radiclau. Chentratius controls the province of Faleshty and the world in this hell-dimension is known as Maramu."

"You talk like Chentratius is still in charge there. I thought you said Kira stopped him?" I asked.

"Things are never simple when you are dealing with powerful demons. Kira seriously hurt him and forced him into a regenerative chrysalis, sort of a cocoon. He can still telepathically communicate with his chief minion, a man named Alexi Rimnicu. He has set Rimnicu to looking for a magical method to restore his vitality and allow him to emerge from his chrysalis.

"Anyway, Rimnicu made an expedition to this world looking for the magical method his master needs. For some reason when he returned he brought back this large group of people, including Dana's parents. Most of them were put in the dungeon below Radiclau. The dungeon level is guarded by thirty to forty of the biggest, meanest Ogres I have ever seen. They are all ten to twelve feet tall and must weigh 800 pounds."

At this point Nadia shook her head. "Even though Chentratius was forced to retreat into the chrysalis, his magical presence still permeates Radiclau and its dungeon. I can not open a doorway there, so it will be necessary to go in and get Dana's parents out of Radiclau before we can return to this world."

"Can you get us into Radiclau or will we have to fight our way in?" I asked.

"While I have been waiting for the time when I could open a doorway to return home I have been working in the kitchens at Radiclau. That's how I met your parents. I was part of the staff that prepared the food and delivered it to the prisoners. While the prisoners are not being kept in the lap of luxury, they are not being starved or tortured, so Rimnicu must have some plan or need for them.

"After two years there, I am known to many of the workers including the guard staff. I believe I can safely get a small group into Radiclau without too much problem, however getting out after breaking people out of the dungeon may be more difficult."

All of a sudden, I just knew that the spell was about to end. I quickly said to Nadia, "We may not be able to communicate for a couple of days until I can get some friends to develop a more permanent solution. Thanks for your help."

As she smiled at me and nodded, I heard another crystal bell sound and knew the spell had ended.

Chapter 3 - Part 3

Apparently everyone realized at the same time that the spell had ended and started to speak all at once. Finally, Trilby called for silence. "That was certainly a different experience. I think it is going to take me a while to adjust to this new reality of magic in the world. I need to make a few phone calls. Let's adjourn until after lunch and meet back in the conference room at 1:30. Rebecca get a transcript ready of this conversation. Daniels, start the planning for the trip to Romania. The team will consist of you, Rebecca, Gibson, Faith, Kennedy, and three or four others of your choosing to man the base station. Plan on leaving in four days."

Rebecca and Daniels nodded and started to head for the door when I jumped in. "Mr. Trilby, we should plan on stopping in London to pick up a couple my friends, Willow Rosenberg and Rupert Giles. Their presence in Romania may make the difference between success and failure of the mission."

"Who are these people?" asked Trilby.

"Giles is probably one of most knowledgeable people in the world on the subject of demons. Willow is a very, very powerful witch. Together they have helped the slayers defeat numerous demons, even a hell-god. They were with us back in Sunnydale when Gib arrived. They went on ahead to England to gather additional information and materials for the mission to Romania."

Trilby nodded. "It's nice to see you have your own organization and support team, and are not just some lone wolf. Daniels, coordinate with Faith a stop in England to pick up her associates."

"One more question, Mr. Trilby. I am curious why you decided on four days until we depart on the mission? Not that I disagree, my friends in England will need about that much time to get some things ready."

"We need some time for planning and gathering materials. Besides I would like to send you and Kennedy through an abbreviated version of our field operative training school. I think we can skip the hand-to-hand training sessions, but I would like to see you go through some weapons, communications, and team infiltration sessions."

Immediately, Buffy's 'It's wrong to kill people' phrase ran through my head. "I will not use guns or explosives or anything like that. They are only real effective against people, not demons or vampires. Plus weapons of those kinds probably won't work in a hell-dimension anyway."

Daniels jumped in, "How are you going to handle these Ogre creatures without guns?"

"I don't know yet," I responded truthfully. "Usually, I just improvise with whatever is available. If possible, I try to have a sturdy hunting knife, but, at least, against vampires any handy piece of wood is sufficient for a slayer. Against Ogres, I don't know, something more substantial would probably be nice, maybe a stout sword or ax. Usually, I have to pass unnoticed through public places so large weapons are not practical. I mean it's not like some TV show, I can't hide a five-foot broadsword under my leather jacket. Well, I can't, Willow could probably hide one in some alternate dimension or something. Anyway, since we are not going to be out in public on this mission, perhaps something more substantial than a knife would be nice, if we can scrounge it up."

Rebecca looked at me with a sudden grin and said. "I have always had an interest in medieval weapons, in addition to modern ones. I have an idea for a weapon I think you might like. Let me talk to the guys in the specialty machine shop and we should have something ready in a couple of days for you to try."

I liked the mischievous look in her eyes. Something told me she had something fun in mind.

I turned back to Trilby. "I don't know if your communication gear will work in the hell-dimension, but I will go through your training. Even if it doesn't work, it will give those of us going to Romania some time to get better acquainted and learn to work as a team."

Trilby looked at his watch, then nodded. "Okay, let's get back together at 1:30 to continue the planning session."

Then Trilby exited the infirmary room with Daniels and Rebecca quickly following.

Once we were alone, Gib, who had been surprisingly quiet since we had arrived at the infirmary, said, "This has been a lot more intense than I had expected. When those tendrils of smoke or whatever started coming out from under Kennedy's boot and heading for our heads, all I could think of was the scene from 'The Ten Commandments' where that green fog is rolling down the streets bring death to the first born. I was so scaried. Suddenly, I remember why Harry was always the point man on our team."

Now it was my turn to return the support Gib had shown me earlier. I pulled him into a hug. "Everything is going to be all right. We will get my Mom and Dad back, I can just feel it."

Gib hugged me for a minute, then stepped back. "Let's go get some lunch and talk about what we learned. Then we'll do a more complete tour of the facility. If there is time before the meeting, a couple of guys down in the gym said they would like a sparring session with you girls. Please try not to hurt anyone."

I grinned over at Kennedy. "What, two little girls like us hurt any of the big strong men we saw in the gym? Please . . . "

End of Chapter 3


	4. BDFchapter 4

Boris, Doris, & Faith

Author: 

Chapter 4 - Part 1

Kennedy, Daniels, and I all slouched down on the couch in the breakroom outside the training center. Daniels was covered in paint. Kennedy had a couple of splotches on her back. Only my clothes were still pristine.

We had been in Washington for two days and were almost through the accelerated field operative training that Trilby had demanded. Training that normally required three months.

This afternoon and most of the evening we had competed in the 'Capture the Flag' competition, one of the final tests for all graduating classes of field ops. A large group of trainees happened to be finishing up this week, so we joined in their session.

Their version of the game is a variation on the paintball game. One team defends the flag and the other team tries to capture it. Their version is a little more aggressive than the normal variety, in addition to taking out your opponent with a paintball you are also allowed to use hand-to-hand combat. And most of the lights were out to simulate late evening. And no talking; only communication with teammates via hand-signals.

The hand-signals had been the hardest part since we only had one day to learn them. I guess there may be times when it will be convenient, but I am starting to feel like I have joined 'Band of Brothers'.

The teams have eight members, but our special little group was supposed to compete against the others with just four. Daniels and Rebecca had been going through the training with Kennedy and I since they were going on this little adventure with us. However at the last minute Rebecca had some tasks to complete before our mission and had to bow out. So our team had been just the three of us.

Daniels had been annoyed with me in the beginning when I refused to carry a paintball gun, instead just a plastic bag filled with paintballs. I explained that I wouldn't use a gun in the real world, so why use one in the test?

The hardest part about the competition for me was the need to be stealthy. I just don't think it's in a slayer's nature to be stealthy. At least not mine. I have always been the 'slam through the front door' style of slayer and I know Buffy is too. I tried to use the stealthy method to appease Daniels, at least until he would get shot and eliminated from the round. Then I would revert to my normal frontal attack mode and just trust in my slayer instinct to bob & weave and not get hit. After the first couple of rounds where she got hit by paintballs using the stealthy approach, Kennedy also reverted to the naturally aggressive slayer methods.

By the last couple of elimination rounds of the contest, I think we had spooked all of the competition. Their training hadn't accounted for an opponent who would come charging straight in and be fast enough to avoid all of their shots. I am a little worried that if they ever ran into a pack of vampires or demons, these trainees would be in a world of hurt. Perhaps I should mention my concerns to Trilby and suggest some changes in their training methods.

We had just won the competition and were taking a well-deserved break when Rebecca came into the break room pushing a cart. She appeared to be working very hard to push the cart which only contained a couple of guitar cases.

We all looked at her with interest as she flopped into a chair and wiped her brow. "Whew, pushing that cart was more work than I expected. I should have requisitioned an electric cart."

Seeing the smile on her face when she looked at us got me wondering what was in the cases. Obviously not just guitars.

I raised my eyebrows and nodded towards the cases. "What's in there?"

Rebecca's smile turned into a big grin. "A present for you and Kennedy. Something you might find useful when playing with Ogres. At least I hope so."

The day we had arrived, Rebecca had mentioned her interest in medieval weapons and how she had an idea for something special. Perhaps this was it. I felt a surge of excitement as I sprang up from the couch, no one had given me a 'slayer gift' since the knife from the Mayor - may he rot in hell.

I walked over to the cart where the two guitar cases were sitting vertical on their fat lower ends. I went to lay one of them flat to open it, but the case didn't budge. Not until I exerted some slayer strength could I lift it enough to lay it flat on the cart. Whatever was in there, it was extremely heavy.

Both Daniels and Kennedy had noticed that I had to use some real muscles to move the case and had walked over to look over my shoulder as I finally opened it. Inside was this beautiful silver battleaxe. It was double-headed spanning about fifteen inches from blade to blade. The handle was about four feet long, made of some dark gray metal. Three leather handgrips had been fitted; one near the head, one midspan, and one near the end of the shaft.

I lifted the axe out of the case and it was heavy, massive, powerful. It felt so good and right in my hands. I looked over at Rebecca and I must've had the same grin on my face as the Terminator when they opened up Sarah Connor's stash of weapons in the underground desert bunker.

Rebecca grinned back. "The guys in the machine shop thought I was crazy when I told them what I wanted. The head of that axe is 175 pounds of depleted uranium, the densest material I could lay my hands on. I had them silverplate it since the legends I have heard always talk about using silver weapons against demonic creatures. The handle is made from titanium for strength."

By this point she had walked back over from her chair. "And one more special feature, see these two buttons on opposite sides of the handle just above the lowest handgrip?"

When I nodded, she continued. "I had buttons made very stiff so only someone incredibly strong would be able to depress them. Go ahead and squeeze them both down at once."

I squeezed my hand pretty hard about the shaft when suddenly an eight-inch wooden stake sprang out of the base of the shaft.

"A little extra surprise for any vampires," she concluded.

"This is so cool," I said giving the axe a couple of experimental swings before passing it on to Kennedy. Then I turned and pulled Rebecca into a hug.

"Thank you, this is a wonderful weapon. It means a lot."

Rebecca returned the hug more warmly than I expected before finally pulling back a little so that she could look down into my eyes. I had forgotten how tall she was until I realized during the hug that my face was pressed between her breasts. Wow, she smelled so nice while I reeked of sweet from all of the time out in the competition. Sometimes life isn't fair.

As she continued to look into my eyes, she said. "If the place where your parents are trapped is half as scary as it sounds, I want you to have the best weapon possible to get everyone back safe and sound. Why don't you go give it a try? We still have a couple of days before our departure, in case it needs any fine-tuning."

Kennedy had been swing the battleaxe around and said. "Yeah, let's go out into the training area where there is some room to move and see what these babies can do."

The training area was a large underground room about 150 feet by 100 feet with a 20 foot ceiling. For the 'Capture the Flag' competition a large portion of the room had been outfitted with a maze of corridors and rooms to simulate the interior of an office complex. As soon as she entered the training room Kennedy ran up to a corner joint of two walls and took a vicious swing with her axe. The axe connected with a satisfying crash and the wall exploded! I mean both walls connected to the joint crashed to the ground and like dominoes three adjacent wall sections went down as well.

Kennedy stood there staring at the destruction she had wrought with one blow and then just said, "Cool."

I looked at Daniels and Rebecca. "I think we are going to need something more substantial than walls made from two by fours, if we intend to do a useful test of these weapons."

Daniels was staring at the mess Kennedy had created and slowly nodded.

With ten minutes of searching in the storage area, we uncovered four twenty-inch diameter sections of timber, each about eight feet in length, left over from some long forgotten project. Kennedy and I carried the timbers out into the center of the training area. As we were lashing them together, Daniels returned carrying several Kevlar vests. He layered three of them on the front of one of the timbers before walking over to where we were standing and suggested we take a swing at that.

We were standing about 20 feet away, so I just pivoted and tossed the battleaxe I was holding. The axe did one complete rotation before burying the blade dead center in the vests. The blade punched through all three vests and was shaft deep in the timber. The timber was split open from top to bottom and the entire lashed together stack of timbers was pushed back about three feet.

Daniels walked over and fingered the shredded vests. He shook his head and quietly remarked. "I've taken a .357 slug in the chest while wearing one of these and, other than a couple of painfully cracked ribs, survived okay. This is an incredible weapon at close range."

A number of the trainees from the competition were still around and had drifted over to see what was going on. I didn't want to involve a bunch of trainees who might never become involved in my world of magic and demons, but Daniels and Rebecca needed to understand what we might be up against. Therefore I stepped closer to them and said softly. "The scary thing is that I have come up against creatures who could shrug off a blow like that and keep on fighting. Three or four blows like that would probably put them down, but certainly not one."

Both of them looked at me to see if I was pulling their leg. I shook my head and they could read the seriousness of my expression.

"Shit," said Daniels quietly and Rebecca just nodded her agreement with his sentiment.

Chapter 4 - Part 2

Kennedy and I put on a show for the trainees by busting up the remaining timbers. Suddenly I noticed the crowd had grown quiet. Where before there had been hooting and hollering, now they were mostly silent. I turned and looked back at the crowd. They were parting and I saw Trilby approaching. From talking to a few of them between matches I knew most of the trainees had heard of, but never met Trilby.

I rested the battleaxe on the floor and waited for Trilby to approach. When he arrived he didn't even give the axes a glance. Nor Kennedy or I. He turned directly to Daniels and Rebecca. "We have a problem. A mission in Cleveland has gone disastrously wrong. I am going to need to borrow you for a day or two before the mission to Romania."

Kennedy and I just looked at each other. Simultaneously we exclaimed, "Hellmouth!"

Trilby looked at us with an expression that said he didn't appreciate the interruption.

"Sunnydale," I said. "Big, smoking hole in the ground. Remember? It was a Hellmouth. It attracted vampires, demons, evil from all over the world. Ultimately, it destroyed the whole town. Cleveland also has a Hellmouth. It has never been as active as the Hellmouth in Sunnydale, but now with the one in Sunnydale gone that may be changing. Are you certain demonic forces are not involved? If you are not certain, I would like for Kennedy and me to tag along. If it turns out to not involve us, we will stay out of the way. But if it does, I would like to be there to help."

Trilby stared at me for almost a minute before nodding. "I don't have all the details yet. I just know three teams have disappeared. Nine of our people unaccounted for. At this point it won't hurt anything for you to ride along. I have a G5 standing by at Andrews and I need the four of you to be on your way in five minutes. We will brief you in flight."

I hoisted the battleaxe and spun the blade in my hand. "Let us grab the cases for our new toys and we are ready to go."

Trilby nodded. When I turned towards Daniels and Rebecca, she was telling him that she needed to get something and would meet us at his car. Then Rebecca took off at a dead run for one of the exits. Daniels was also moving a lot faster than I was expecting towards the breakroom where we had left the guitar cases. Apparently, when Trilby said jump, his people did jump. With only a moment's pause, Kennedy and I sprinted after him.

I never thought we would be on our way in five minutes, but four minutes and thirty seconds after we left Trilby, Daniels pulled out of the parking lot with the four of us on board. It helped when he explained how he kept a spare set of clothes in his car so there was no need to pause to get rid of his paint spatter clothes or Kennedy's tee shirt. Also, since we would be using one of the company's jets, it was fully equipped with any weapons we would need. When we had arrived at his car, Rebecca was waiting. Resting at her feet was what looked like an oversized gym bag. Daniels quickly opened the trunk and we stashed the guitar cases and Rebecca's bag in with all of the other bags of equipment already present.

We had been moving so fast, I hadn't had time to think. But as the car pulled out of the parking garage it occurred to me that Trilby had hundreds or maybe thousands of people in his organization, yet when a big emergency hit he came running to Rebecca and Daniels. While they both seemed young, he obviously felt they were his best. It made me feel good that he had assigned them to the mission to look for my parents.

The next thing to occur to me were several improvements to our new 'toys' as a result of the dash to the car. "Rebecca, can you get in touch with your people about a couple of improvements for our axes?"

"Sure, I can call them and have them get started right away. What do you need?"

"We need some improved way of carrying them when we are moving at faster than a walk. For the guitar cases, a strong strap that has an adjustable length to allow it to be carried over one shoulder or across the back. Plus, I think there will be times when the guitar case will not be a good cover. So I would like some kind of harness that will hold it against my back with the head tight against my shoulder blades and the shaft pointed down. Something that will let me carry a pack over the top of it and still be able to run and fight."

"Hmm," said Rebecca pulling her cell. "I understand what you want. We have this guy who is very good at designing weapon harnesses, usually for handguns, mini-Macs, sawed-off shotguns and

hunting knifes. Let me give him a call and get him started. I left a wooden mockup of the axes down in the machine shop. He can use that plus a rough idea of your sizes to get started. You will have to meet with him for a final fitting when we get back from Cleveland."

I nodded my thanks and leaned back to watch the scenery on the drive to the airport. It was about 8:30 in the evening and almost dark.

It was a Thursday night and well past rush hour so the traffic was reasonably light, at least by the standards of any major American city. It was only a few minutes before I realized the rapid pace Daniels was achieving. And he was one of those drivers who is so good and smooth you feel perfectly safe. I suddenly remembered Trilby's comment from our initial meeting that Daniels was a 'transportation specialist'. At the time I didn't understand what he meant, but now it was becoming a little clearer.

In less than fifteen minutes, with only a couple of brief pauses at security checkpoints, we drove out onto the tarmac and right up to the Gulfstream, which already had its engines spooled up.

Daniels opened the trunk, grabbed Rebecca's bag, and tossed it to her. He momentarily forgot and went to pull out the guitar cases for us. After a second, he sheepishly stepped back and waved us over to retrieve them ourselves. Finally, he pulled a couple of smaller bags of his own from the trunk.

We quickly walked over to the jet. As soon as we climbed aboard, Daniels pulled the door closed and in less than a minute the plane was moving.

The plane was the largest private jet I had ever seen, almost as large as a 737 passenger jet. We stowed Rebecca's bag and the guitar cases in a storage area near the entrance while Daniels carried his bags back into the seating area.

The seating area extended back to about the beginning of the wing and had oversized, plush seats for about 15 people. Daniels dropped his bags by one of the seats and started to buckle himself in. "Go ahead, pick a seat," he said. "We will be taking off shortly. Then I will give you a tour of the jet. I have a change of clothes in the bags. Kennedy, I think I have an extra tee shirt you can borrow in place of the paint splashed one you are wearing now."

We had barely buckled up, when the pilot came on over the intercom to tell us that we would be taking off in one minute. He added that the flying time to Cleveland would be 45 minutes.

As soon as the jet had climbed out and leveled off, Daniels was up and heading towards the back. The rest of us followed. The first door off the aisle towards the back led into the weapons locker. I am no expert on guns, but there seemed to be enough firepower in that room to overthrow a small country, at least 50 automatic rifles, 30 handguns and several locked cabinets containing who knows what.

The next door led into a conference room with several large video screens mounted on the walls. A woman was sitting at a computer terminal and talking into a headset. Daniels directed us to go in and take a seat while he went back to the restroom to change.

As we were sitting down, the screen on the aft wall lit up and then went into split-screen mode with Trilby on the left side and a man I didn't recognize on the right. Trilby didn't wait for Daniels to appear, but immediately introduced the other man as Tom O'Hare, the man in charge in Cleveland.

Then Trilby got down to business. "Okay, Tom, what the hell is going on out there?"

Tom issued orders to someone off screen and then turned back to the camera. "We received Intel three days ago that a Romanian terrorist group with ties to the German 'Red Army' group would be bringing people and bio-weapons across Lake Erie from Canada and into Cleveland last night."

Rebecca, Kennedy and I all looked at each other. Was it just a coincidence that there was a Romanian terrorist group involved at the same time we were planning a mission to Romania?

O'Hare continued. "We staked out the two most likely wharves. Shortly before dawn, we lost contact with both teams. We sent in a backup team, but even though we were in constant radio communications, we suddenly lost contact with them as well. We got what sounded like one short scream and then their radio went dead.

"Since we were down to a skeleton crew, we rounded up reinforcements from the local police and sheriff's office before returning to the area. By the time we returned in force, it was midmorning. Other than a small amount of blood, we found nothing. No bodies. No terrorists. No weapons."

During the last part of the briefing, Daniels entered the conference room, now dressed all in black. Black jeans, black tee shirt, black combat boots. He was carrying a black leather jacket in one hand and a black tee shirt in the other. He handed the tee shirt to Kennedy and pointed her towards the bathroom. After Kennedy left, he slipped into one of the seats.

I have to admit black suited him. Oh, not in a dark, brooding way like Angel. While he was all business when the situation required it, we had seen several glimpses of a sense of humor. Something you never saw with Angel.

Perhaps I should pause a moment to describe him. Daniels looks about 30. He is six foot two and about 190 lbs. Muscular, but not massive like my Dad. More of a swimmer's body than a power weightlifter. However, I managed to watch him take down several of the trainees during the competition and his martial arts skills are good. He does have the strong, square jaw like my Dad and beautiful hazel eyes. He has thick, black hair that would look gorgeous if it was longer, but he has a very practical, short, military cut. Suddenly, I found myself fantasizing about him in a post-slaying romp. Down, Faith. You need him to help find your parents.

Trilby's gruff voice cut through my daydreams. "Well, have the forensics reports available when you meet the plane. Then I want you to take Daniels and Ms. Fairchild down to the site. Sometimes they can find a lead where no one else can."

Then Trilby turned his attention to Daniels. "Daniels, I expect a report in the morning." Before Daniels could even nod his agreement, Trilby cut the video link.

Rebecca stood up. "Let's visit the armory, before we land."

As we were leaving the conference room, Kennedy rejoined us. After we entered the weapons room the first thing Rebecca did was open a small closet filled with Kevlar vests. Kennedy and I each tried one on and Rebecca helped adjust them for the most comfortable fit. I tried a few practice swings of my arms and a couple sidekicks. The vest did restrict my movement a little. I guess I would wait and see what kind of opponents we were up against. If it was men with guns, I would probably wear it. If the opponents were vamps or demons, I might discard it. My speed and reflexes had gotten me through a lot of scrapes and I would hate to have something slow me down while only providing a false sense of security.

While we were fiddling with the vests, Daniels had put on his own vest and then put a shoulder harness over the top. He pulled an automatic from the rack and after loading a clip, he inserted it into the shoulder harness under his left arm. At my raised eyebrow, he explained it was a 17 round Glock, custom modified for full automatic fire.

When he realized I didn't understand what that meant, he explained that with most handguns you have to pull the trigger once for each bullet fired. With a full automatic version you could just hold down the trigger and the full clip could be fired in a quick burst. As he was talking he loaded 8 spare clips into the shoulder holster under his right arm. Next he loaded eight more clips into special pockets in his leather jacket. Finally he picked up another Glock and a small hip holster. After loading the second gun, he attached it to his belt behind his right hip.

"Wow," I said after doing the math in my head. "You are a walking arsenal. I count over 300 rounds of ammunition on you."

Daniels smiled. "I have found out the hard way, you can never have too much ammunition."

Once Rebecca had finished with our vests and her own, she too went over to the weapons rack. She selected a Glock, the same as Daniels, and a hip holster. She slipped two handfuls of spare clips into a fanny pack.

When I expected her to pick up a backup gun like Daniels, she instead picked up a pair of combat knives. She put one in the fanny pack and fitted the other to a small holster on her left hip.

As both of them turned to leave the weapons room, I interrupted. "Umm, could I get one of those knives and hip-holsters, too? You never know when a knife will come in handy."

Rebecca quickly turned back and grabbed a pair of knives handing one to both Kennedy and I.

As Kennedy accepted hers, she grinned. "All I need now is a windbreaker with FBI in big letters and I will feel like I am in an episode of 'Cops'."

For some reason this struck me as hysterically funny and I started to laugh. A couple of days ago we were fighting a horde of über-vamps to save the world and today we dressed like an episode of 'Cops'.

As I was getting my laughter under control, the pilot came back on the intercom and announced we had begun our descent into Cleveland. So we made our way back into the forward cabin and buckled in for the landing.

Chapter 4 - Part 3

The plane had barely stopped moving when Daniels began undoing the door. Rebecca grabbed her large bag while Kennedy and I hoisted our guitar cases.

Daniels was already walking over to the man standing by the black, tricked-out Hummer when we climbed down the stairway. Damn, that was a cool car. Why didn't the Watcher's Council provide the slayers with a ride like that? Perhaps if they did, I wouldn't have caused them so much trouble!

Having seen him only a few minutes ago on the videoconference, I recognized our driver to be Tom O'Hare. After shaking hands with Daniels and Rebecca, he turned to us.

"And who might you be?"

"Can't you tell," I responded, lifting the guitar case. "We're the band. Never leave home without us."

"Yeah," continued Kennedy. "We play a real, mean, killer ax."

Daniels just shook his head and made the introductions. After stowing our gear in the back, we all piled on board and we headed out from the airport.

Surprisingly Kennedy was the first one to speak. "If we get a chance while we are here, could we swing by the Cleveland Museum of Art?"

O'Hare looked at her suspiciously. "How did you know about the museum? I just found out myself."

"Found out what?" asked Kennedy.

"That one of the missing agent's emergency transmitter started sending and it is located at the museum."

Kennedy looked a little taken aback by this. She was obviously still new at the slayer game and didn't realize how often what seemed like simple coincidence was really some secret 'slayer sense' or hidden message from 'the powers that be'.

"I didn't know anything about that. I was just talking to my Mom on the phone a couple of days ago when she happened to mention that the Dutch avant-garde artist, Aernout Mik, was having his first major American exhibit this summer at the Cleveland Museum of Art. We saw his exhibit in Barcelona last summer and both really enjoyed it. Since I had just learned about the Hellmouth in Cleveland earlier that day, it stuck in my mind."

Kennedy and I had ended up with the window seats in the back with Rebecca sitting in between. For such a large vehicle on the outside, the Hummer was surprisingly cramped on the inside. I found my thigh pressed tightly against Rebecca's, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

I leaned forward to look past Rebecca at Kennedy. "You were in Barcelona last summer?"

"Sure, my mom is Spanish. Where do you think I got these dark, sultry eyes?" Laughing a little, she batted her eyes flirtatiously. "We have a villa in Barcelona overlooking the Mediterranean. We always spend June and July there. In August, all of Europe seems to go on vacation and ends up down by the sea. My mom says it gets too crowd, so we usually come back and spend August at our summer house in the Hamptons."

"Your family takes the whole summer off every year?" I asked.

"No, my dad, well step-dad, stays behind and works. He usually makes it to Spain for a couple of long weekends and then takes a couple of weeks off in August and joins us in the Hamptons. So the summer off is just my mom, my older stepsister, Carrie, and me. Carrie is in college now and last year her boyfriend spent the summer working as a tennis instructor at a club near our summer house, so she didn't make the trip to Europe."

I just sat back wondering what a life of luxury must be like. It seems like almost as far back as I can remember my life has been all about the slaying. Living on the edge. Moving from one dive to the next. Even back when I had a family, we had definitely been middle class. I wonder if we do find my parents, will we ever be able to have a normal vacation to somewhere cool like Barcelona?

As we continued to chat in the backseat about all of the exotic sounding places Kennedy had visited on vacations, we headed into downtown. It was apparent we weren't heading to the waterfront, so we must be going to check out the emergency transmitter signal from the museum. Finally, after a few more minutes, we pulled up behind a large brick building. It felt old and slightly menacing in the dark. Two other black Hummers and three unmarked police cars were already parked behind the building awaiting our arrival.

As I climbed out of the Hummer I felt it. Vamps. And way more than one. Something big and dangerous was going on here. I was suddenly glad I had convinced Trilby to let me come along. I would have hated to see Daniels and Rebecca walk into this alone.

As we walked around to the back of the vehicle, I said quietly so only Kennedy, Daniels, Rebecca, and O'Hare could hear. "There are a lot of vamps in there. You are going to have to let us handle this. O'Hare, position your men around the perimeter of building to help any civilians that make their way out. If any people exit the building and appear to have seriously deformed faces, do not go near them. Just let them leave."

O'Hare looked questioningly at Daniels as if to ask if this young girl was suddenly running this operation.

Daniels just nodded.

O'Hare looked back at me. "You expect us to just do what this girl says? We have men trapped in that building. They could be hurt or dying and you expect us to just stand out here on guard duty?" By the end of this, O'Hare was starting to look pretty agitated. But then he had had a rough 24 hours.

By this time I had pulled my guitar case out of the car and laid it on the ground. I looked up at O'Hare as I popped the latches on the cover. The cover lifted and the battleaxe lay there gleaming a yellowish-silver under the security lights.

"If you can lift and swing this weapon," I said. "I will gladly let you come along. Otherwise, you need to leave this up to us."

O'Hare couldn't take his eyes off the axe, which looked so out of place in this world of Hummers and cops and guns. Finally he reached out a hand to lift it. It didn't budge. He added a second hand. It didn't budge. He assumed more of a weightlifter's stance. He barely lifted it an inch before dropping it back into the case. He straightened and looked at me. I tried to look particularly nonchalant as I reached in, place one hand on the grip behind the head, and casually lifted the battleaxe out.

O'Hare glanced over to Kennedy who was holding her matching axe in a similar one-handed grip.

Shaking his head and looking a little paler under the yellow lighting, he said. "Okay, my men and I will secure the perimeter."

I nodded, put the battleaxe down, and started to remove my vest. When Daniels looked questioningly, I responded. "It slows down my movement and I can't have that during a fight with multiple vamps. Don't worry, I have done this lots of times before and you'll be surprised how tough my skin is. Definitely leave yours on. This is not some macho challenge."

He nodded and after I pulled the vest off over my head, I noticed Rebecca had opened the gym bag she had made the special side trip back at the facility to pick up. I had been increasing curious as to what might be in the bag, particularly after seeing the large selection of the weapons available on the plane.

After she unzipped the bag, she reached in and pulled out this wicked looking samurai sword. Pulling it from its black scabbard, she expertly swung it through a quick kata to warm up her arms and shoulders.

"Wow, bitchin' cool," exclaimed Kennedy.

"Where did you learn that?" I asked.

She looked a little embarrassed, but obviously had given this explanation a few times before. "Back when I was in High School, I had this big crush on Adrian Paul. I watched 'Highlander' religiously through high school and college.

"When I was a senior in high school the local park and recs department gave this introductory Kendo class for $50 and they threw in your first bamboo sword. Turns out the local Kendo group used the money from the introductory class to rent a large room from a dance studio one evening a week. After the hour and a half intro class, the club had free use of the room for the rest of the evening. I started to hang around after the class and watch the guys practice in full gear. After the intro class ended, I joined the club. I have been practicing Kendo ever since, but I have never had occasion to use a sword for real."

"Well, try and leave the fighting to Kennedy and me. The vamps are very strong. If you have to fight, the three best ways to kill a vamp are: wood through the heart, decapitation, and sunlight." I looked up at the dark sky. "Well, it looks like sunlight is out, so stick to the first two. Also, don't bother with body blows with the sword. A sword through the guts of a vampire is only going to piss him off, not slow him down."

Daniels asked, "How are we going to know which ones are the vampires?"

"Don't worry," I said. "As soon as they realize I am here, they are all going to have their game faces on. When vampires feed or are fighting for their lives, their true inner demons show through in their faces. You will have no trouble picking out the vampires once you have seen them.

"Okay, is everyone ready? Then let's do it," and I started over towards the door.

Chapter 4 - Part 4

The four of us entered the museum through a personnel access door next to the loading dock. The battleaxe makes a great lockpick, as long as Alexander's solution to the Gordian Knot problem doesn't bother you.

"Could you make a little more noise?" asked Daniels sarcastically.

"Come on, Daniels. You just spent about eight hours in that stupid competition with me. Do you really think stealthiness is important to me?"

"Okay, so a frontal attack approach worked in the controlled environment of the test. But wouldn't it be better to try and find our men without being noticed?"

"Well, we all have our preferred methods. You may want to find the men first and then potentially have to battle hordes of vampires while trying to move injured men. Me, I would rather slay all of the vamps first so we can move any survivors unhindered."

As we talked, we had walked across the unloading area behind the loading dock. At the back of the area was a large freight elevator to move things to the various floors. Adjacent to the elevator was a doorway leading to a set of stairs. The stairs headed both up and down. I paused and waited for my slayer senses to tell me which way to go.

I looked over at Kennedy. "My senses say down. How about you?"

She closed her eyes for about five seconds and then nodded.

I glanced over the railing. There were at least two levels below street level. We proceeded to the lower of the two, as that was where my sensation of vamps was the strongest. Vamps always did like the maximum protection from sunlight. However if the museum was near the Hellmouth, who knows how many further levels of tunnels, catacombs, caves, and secret passages remained to be found?

As soon as we exited the stairwell I could hear noises coming from off to the left. Noises that sounded suspiciously like fighting. We moved quickly down the corridor until we came to an open doorway on the right.

I looked in to find a large storage area mostly empty except for some crates stacked on the far side, perhaps forty feet away. Empty, of course, if you ignored the thirty or so vamps.

It only took a few more seconds for me to see and comprehend what held their attention. In the far corner of the room, near the crates, was a group of four kids, two boys and two girls.

One of the boys was hurt and a girl was kneeling beside him cradling his head. The other boy and girl were trying to defend them. With a moment's observation it was apparent the standing girl with short red hair was actually doing most of the fighting. If she was successfully holding off a room full of vamps, she must be one of the newly activated slayers. I wonder if Buffy and the Scoobies looked that young and helpless when she first arrived in Sunnydale?

It was apparent the young slayer wouldn't last long against that many vampires while trying to protect her friends. Time for an older, experienced slayer and her friends to step in and lend a hand.

I walked a few feet into the room and stopped with the others standing behind me. I looked out on all of the vamps and then called out with all of the slayer strength in my voice I could muster. "STOP! I AM THE ONE YOU WANT!"

All of the vamps turned and looked at me, even the ones fighting the girl. A few of the nearest ones even backed away several steps in surprise. Their being frozen in shock wouldn't last more than a few seconds, so it was time to act quickly.

I looked at the young slayer across the room and then yelled out with a loud version of my normal voice. "Catch." Then I threw my battleaxe towards her as hard as I could. On its trajectory to the girl, the axe smashed straight through two vamps blowing them into clouds of dust. As the axe flew within arm's reach, she deftly reached out and snagged the handle. The remaining inertia in the battleaxe spun her around but she managed to not only maintain her grip, but also decapitate the three nearest vamps before she spun to a halt.

Damn, I thought, that girl has potential.

Five down and about twenty-five to go. Time to start thinning the herd. Of course, now I was without a killing weapon. Perhaps it was time to give Rebecca her baptism under fire and see if she was really ready to kill something with that sword of hers.

I started running towards the nearest group of vampires and shouted over my shoulder. "Rebecca, baseball. Be ready for some fast high pitches."

As I approached the vamps I dove to the floor and slid into them low and hard trying to knock as many of them off their feet as possible. As soon as I was in amongst them, I rolled onto my back and got my feet under one of the vamps. I thrust my feet into him hard, lofting him high into the air in Rebecca's direction. As he flew past her he was upside-down, his feet were about ten feet off the ground and his head was hanging straight down at about shoulder height. Rebecca took a vicious baseball style swing of her sword at his throat and he exploded in a cloud of dust.

I quickly managed to toss three more towards her before I had a chance to look back. Rebecca was almost completely obscured by a billowing cloud of vampire dust. Time to give her a little break and find a weapon of my own.

I noticed an old wooden table with simple straight legs about fifteen feet beyond the group of vamps I was fighting. I forced three of the vampires in the general direction of the table with a roundhouse kick, a sidekick, and a solid upper cut of my left fist. Two of the three crashed down on the table smashing it to the floor.

I did a double backflip to momentarily clear the vamps surrounding me and landed next to the broken table. I quickly wrenched the nearest table leg free and slammed it through the nearest vamp. The table leg was not particularly sharp or pointed, but I had long since discovered I could ram a relatively blunt object through a vamp when my blood was up. And at that moment my blood was singing!

I staked the other vamp who had crashed into the table and then turned to see if any of my friends were in immediate danger.

Kennedy was working her way in the general direction of the kids in the far corner. She had seven vampires surrounding her, but since she survived the battle with the über-vamps unscathed, I wasn't too concerned.

Daniels had moved off to one side, but now a pair of vamps were approaching him. He fired a three round pattern into the center of the chest of the nearer one. The impact of the bullets forced the vamp back a couple of steps, but then it started moving forward again. I was getting a little concerned about Daniels when suddenly his gun let out a sharp staccato buzz. He had switched his Glock to full auto mode and emptied the clip directly into the vampire's throat. A novel method for decapitation, but it worked. Daniels quickly ejected the spent clip, slammed home a fresh one, and took out the other nearby vamp.

Finally, I glanced towards Rebecca. She was holding three vampires at bay with her sword, but two had worked their way behind her and would be on her in seconds. I took off with my table leg towards her at a dead run. When I got close I yelled, "Duck." Kicking off the back of one of the vamps in front of her and driving him into the ground, I vaulted over Rebecca landing on top of the two vamps approaching her from the rear. My momentum drove the vamps and me forward until we were fifteen feet from Rebecca. I sidekick one of them in the head hard enough to stun him while I staked the other one.

After finishing off the second one I turned to find Rebecca had decapitated the one I had forced to the ground, as well as one of the others. She was actually very good with that sword.

However these vamps did seem unusually easy to kill. And it was more than just the step down from battling über-vamps to normal everyday garden-variety vamps. No. All of these vamps were new. Not more than a day or two since they had been turned. It takes awhile for the demons possessing the bodies to acclimate and adjust to being in our world. That's one of the main reasons we always patrolled the cemeteries back in Sunnydale, a new vamp is ten times easier to slay than a week old vamp.

Not that I am complaining. If I have to fight 30 vamps, I would just as soon they be newbies.

Suddenly, I realized the staccato barking of Daniels' gun had stopped. I looked for him and found him confronting a female vamp. Definitely a female with most of her blouse undone as an added distraction. Even with a full vamp face, Daniels couldn't bring himself to blow her head off and had allowed her to get within arm's reach. She had no such compunction against attacking him. She quickly backhanded him across the face, spinning him around and sending his gun flying across the room.

Daniels was obviously dazed by the force of her blow, but tried for a backkick with his right leg to slow her approach. Unfortunately, she was fast and Daniels was not at his peak. She caught his ankle and jerked it up into the air smashing him into the floor.

I was already running towards them when the vamp threw herself onto him and went for his throat. I launched myself into a long, flat dive landing on top of the struggling pair. I had shortened my grip on the table leg, hopefully enough to take out the vamp without impaling Daniels too.

I crashed into the vamp, slamming the stake into her heart. For a second I was supported by the vampire's back before she burst into a cloud of dust. I dropped six inches and landed prone on top of Daniels. Our noses were actually touching, so I only had to lean down a faction of an inch to give him a quick kiss.

I pulled back and asked, "Are you okay?"

He smiled and said, "Yeah." But he looked less than okay. Where the vampire had backhanded him his face was bruised and swollen from his eye to the corner of his mouth.

I rolled off of him and bounced to my feet. I reached down to give him a hand up. As I pulled him up, I said with a quick wink, "I have never found lying on my back under a vampire to be a successful fighting technique."

He started to smile, but then grimaced when he put weight on the ankle the vamp had grabbed. Still, he only hesitated a second before pulling his spare Glock and getting back to the business of slaying vampires.

By this time there were only six vampires left. One each by Kennedy and the new slayer, one by Rebecca, one near Daniels, and two beating a hasty retreat out of a rear exit to the room.

Kennedy and the new slayer quickly dispatched theirs. I tossed my chair leg hard at the legs of the one near Rebecca, dropping him to the floor and allowing Rebecca to quickly dispatch him with her sword. I heard a sharp burst from Daniels gun and knew he had eliminated his.

When I turned to Daniels he had already slammed home a fresh clip and was drawing a bead on the retreating pair. I shouted for him to hold. He looked surprised, but put up his gun and started limping over, detouring just long enough to pick up his first gun he had lost during the fight with the female vampire.

When he reached me, I moved to his right side and draped his arm over my shoulder to relieve some of the weight on his injured ankle. Together we move over to the new slayer and her friends.

Chapter 4 - Part 5

When we reached the others I lowered Daniels until he was sitting on the edge of a crate. He nodded his thanks then asked, "Why did you stop me from shooting? It wasn't that hard of a shot, I could have gotten at least one and maybe both of them."

I took a minute to look at each of those present in turn. Kennedy was barely winded and obviously ready for more. The new slayer was breathing real hard from a very long fight, but not wounded. She would be fine in a couple of minutes. Rebecca was about the same, winded but could continue to fight in a couple of minutes. Daniels and both boys with the new slayer were hurt. The other girl with the slayer wasn't hurt, but looked to be going into shock. Obviously time to get some of the people out of here.

I looked back at Daniels, but spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "All of these vampires were too easy to kill. They had been turned within the last day or two. There has to be at least one older, more powerful vampire around here. I let those two go in hopes they will go running back to their sire and I can track them."

"Easy to kill," muttered Daniels as he rubbed his swollen face.

"Yeah, we got lucky. It takes about a week for vamps to reach most of their full strength and speed potential. After that their rate of increase slows dramatically, but they still increase. A year old vampire is a little stronger and faster than a week old vamp. A hundred-year-old vamp is better still, although part of that can be chalked up to experience. Ten on one is fair odds for a slayer against relatively young vampires. But against a two hundred year-old vampire, it better be one on one and the slayer may need to get lucky too. Fortunately, there are not a lot of two hundred year old or older vampires around."

"Did you say slayer?" asked the new slayer.

I turned to her. "I'm Faith. The others with me are Kennedy, Rebecca, and Daniels. And you?"

"My name is Kelly. Kelly MacIntire. These are my friends, Tom, Rita, and Michael."

I reached out to shake her hand. She switched the battleaxe from her right hand to her left and shook mine. Then she sort of sheepishly tried to return the axe.

I smiled at her. "No. Why don't you hang onto that for awhile? At least until we get out of here. You do feel a little more comfortable holding it, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I don't understand it, but for some reason I feel better with a weapon in my hand. I don't understand what is happening to me. The last few days I have been having all of these strange feelings. And I felt drawn to come down here to the museum. I mean I haven't been to the museum in years and suddenly I found myself in the building the past three days in a row. Finally, today my friends came with me and I nearly got us killed. And suddenly I feel so strong. I mean this axe is really heavy, right?"

"Just over two hundred pounds," Rebecca said quietly.

"That's twice as much as I weigh and yet it doesn't feel any harder to lift or swing than a baseball bat use to. What's happening to me?"

By this point she was almost in tears. I walked over and pulled her into my arms and stroked her hair. "It's going to be okay. You are a vampire slayer now, just like Kennedy and me. It may take some time, but we will explain everything. Can you hold it together for a few more hours?"

She gave me one more quick squeeze and then stepped back. "Yeah, I think so," she said as she wiped at her eyes.

I turned to Rebecca. "Do you have your cell?"

She pulled it out of the fanny pack and handed it to me. As I was dialing she walked over to Daniels and handed him a few more clips for his guns. He had been right, there was no such thing as too much ammo. Particularly when you burned an entire clip for each vamp you put down. If he was going on any more adventures like this, we are going to have to get him one of those backpack reloader things like Lara Croft used in the first 'Tomb Raider' movie.

On about the eighth ring of the phone a groggy British voice said, "Halloo."

"Giles, its Faith. Wake up."

"Faith, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"No, but I'm guessing it is a lot closer to morning there than here and it will be a long time before I get any sleep. Giles, I'm in Cleveland."

"Cleveland? I thought you were in Washington." This last was said with a loud yawn I could hear even on the phone.

"Cleveland. Remember you told us about the Hellmouth here? Well, things have gone wonky. I am in the basement of the Cleveland Museum of Art with Kennedy and we just killed about thirty vampires. And we found a new slayer here. Giles, are you listening?"

"Yeah. Cleveland. Museum of Art. Say have you seen the Aernout Mik exhibit. I hear it is his best work yet."

"What is it with everyone and this interest in Mik? Okay, before I leave Cleveland I promise to make time to see it. Now can we focus on the new slayer? Her name is Kelly MacIntire. Is there a watcher you can send over here to help her? And I don't mean you. I still need your help with my parents in Romania."

From his voice I could tell he was finally coming awake. "Umm, yeah. Agatha Penbrook is, I believe, in Albany, New York doing some research. She would be a good choice. I will call her first thing in the morning, her morning, not my morning. She should be able to reach Cleveland by tomorrow evening. Can you give me anymore particulars besides just the girl's name?"

"Hang on a second, Giles, and I will put her on." I turned to Kelly. "Kelly, my friend Giles would like to speak to you a minute. He heads up a group that helps new slayers like you. He would like to send someone out to teach you all the things you need to know and that I may not have time to get into. Plus she will help you set up a training program and just help in a lot of other ways. But to do that he needs to know how to let her get in touch with you. If you don't mind, could you give him a phone number where she can reach you and maybe a public place near your home where you can meet, perhaps somewhere like a library? Kennedy and I will try to hang around until she arrives, which should be tomorrow evening, but sometimes our lives are very hectic and we may have to leave before then."

Kelly nodded and held out her hand for the phone. She spent several minutes talking to Giles and giving him the contact information. Finally, she handed the phone back to me.

"Faith, is all of the excitement over?"

"No, I think it's just beginning. All of the vamps we fought were freshly turned, within the last day or two. I let a couple go, hoping they will lead me back to their sire. I really need to leave within the next couple of minutes before the trail gets old. I will try to call you back in a few hours with more details."

"Okay, Faith. Be careful."

"I'll try. Talk to you soon. Bye," I concluded before breaking the connection.

I turned back to the new slayer. "Kelly, would you like to get the ones responsible for hurting your friends?"

"Oh, yeah. It feels like there is a fire building inside of me and the only thing that will quench it is to get them and make them pay."

"I thought so. I feel like that some times too. How about my friends Kennedy and Daniels help your friends out of the building? There are cops waiting outside and they will see that your friends get to the hospital. I would like it if you come with Rebecca and me to look for the others. Along the way I will try to explain a little about being a slayer."

"Okay," she said with enthusiasm. Although how much of that was desire to find the vampire leaders and how much was interest about learning more about what she had become, I'm not sure. Not that it mattered at the moment.

Turning to Kennedy, I asked, "Will you get the others out of here? I know it isn't far, but if there are more vamps on the way, I would like you to be there."

Kennedy nodded, then held up her axe. "Do you want this?"

I shook my head. "Nah, you hang on to it for now. I'm good with the table leg. Remember the art of improvisation. Anything can be a weapon. Don't become too dependent on any one weapon or at just the wrong moment you might freeze and it will cost you a life."

Then I turned to Daniels, who I was afraid would provide the biggest challenge to my orders. "Daniels you need to help the others get out of here and then get that ankle checked."

Surprisingly, he nodded his agreement. "No argument. Until I get this ankle taped, I will just slow you down. I have had problems with this ankle before. When I get it taped, it will be back to at least 90. How do Kennedy and I find you when we return?"

"Easy," I said with an evil grin. Kicking my toe forward along the ground, I raised a small cloud of dust. "Just follow the piles of vampire dust."

End of Chapter 4


	5. BDFchapter 5

Boris, Doris, & Faith

Author: duane at

Chapter 5 - Part 1

The vampire dust comment had been meant mostly as a joke, but it was turning out to be true. As Rebecca, Kelly, and I headed in the direction where I got the strongest vampire 'sense', we ran into a steady stream of vampires. In the next thirty minutes, we must have dealt with at least twenty more. All of them continued to be 'newbies', and since they were only attacking in small groups of three or four, Kelly and I managed to dispatch all of them before any got close to Rebecca. Rebecca had done well in the initial wild melee, but there was no point in pushing her luck any further unless it became absolutely necessary; this was clearly work for slayers.

My vampire 'sense' led us steadily further and further underground. At first we passed through rooms related to the museum above: more storerooms, a boiler room, a small machine shop, and several workshops for the behind-the-scenes tasks needed to keep a major museum functioning. Finally, we reached a door leading to an old, long disused railroad tunnel for delivering coal back at the end of the nineteenth century. This tunnel headed in the general direction of the waterfront and was the probable route used by the ones who had taken out O'Hare's men the night before.

After walking down this tunnel for about five minutes, we came to a large opening torn through one of its walls. The opening was definitely recent. My vampire 'sense' really started to jangle and even Kelly commented on the strange feeling she was getting from this opening.

Stepping through, we abruptly left the world of modern man behind. For the first half mile we traveled through a series of natural caves and tunnels. The ground was very uneven, but definitely trending deeper and deeper underground. The height of the ceiling varied from barely four feet to more than twenty. It was fortunate Rebecca had stashed a penlight in her fanny pack back in the armory room on the plane.

After nearly twenty minutes in the dark passage and only one attempted ambush by vampires, a faint glow became visible in the distance ahead. As we approached the light, the ground leveled out. Then we stepped through another shattered wall and stood transfixed.

We were in a huge chamber, which was obviously not natural. And just as obviously, it was not manmade. No human mind could have possibly been behind the design of this room with its impossibly curved crystalline arches or the strange, giant, light-emitting globes suspended from the high, vaulted ceiling. These twenty foot diameter globes put forth a light that wasn't orange and wasn't purple, but some unnamable color somewhere between.

Nor could any human mind have been responsible for the forty massive winged statues aligned directly below the globes in this football field-sized room. The creatures depicted by these statues were unlike anything I had ever seen before, and between practical experience and Giles' large collection of demon-lore books, I have seen a lot of different creatures. Towering over us, they were all fourteen to fifteen feet tall standing atop six foot high plinths. The little voice that lives in the back of my head was shouting that these statues were not some grandiose exaggeration, but life-size depictions. Life-size. Just being inside this vast chamber was causing my body to ramp up to a whole new higher level of combat-readiness, which even a rolling thirty minute battle against fifty vampires hadn't achieved. Some truly primal sense of fear was being triggered by the mere presence of the statues before us.

"What is this place?" whispered Rebecca. For the first time since I met her, the seemingly unflappable secret agent sounded shaken.

Turning to look at her, I was startled by other girls' appearances. When I had looked directly at the glowing globes they seemed to emit some unearthly, orangey-purple glow. But now I realized they had some strange, almost anti-black light effect. Where a normal black light made white clothing fluoresce, this light had the opposite effect; somehow my black jeans and jacket and Rebecca's protective vest seemed to shine with an impossible brilliance. And the effect of the light on the appearance of skin tones was down-right scary. I mean, the girls' faces and my own hands had taken on a ghastly gray hue like the flesh of a three-day-old corpse. It is sad to say, but in my unfortunate vocation, I have seen enough three-day-old bodies to know.

Trying to shove the primal urge to run into the back corner of my mind where it belonged, I took a step forward and forced myself to speak at a quasi-normal volume. Although it wasn't until my heart rate finally fell back below the two hundred beats a minute only a hummingbird could possibly sustain that my voice stopped squeaking.

"I . . . I think . . . I think these are the . . . ancient ones."

"Who?" asked Rebecca still barely whispering, although she and Kelly had stayed up with me as I moved further into the chamber.

The term 'ancient ones' had just popped into my head. Now I racked my brain for where it had come from. It must have been some conversation with Giles or Buffy or some other of the Scoobies. Who else had I ever met who would have talked about something like this? Angel?

"They . . . were a race . . . who had dominion over the world . . . and many of the other planes . . . long before man arrived on the scene. When their race departed this realm, some of their fallen members were left behind . . . and supposedly they are the source of all the modern demons . . . including the vampires."

"Fallen members?" asked Kelly, as we stared at the giant winged creatures. Her voice was sounding no less shaky than Rebecca's or my own. "You mean like . . . angels?"

We had reached the first of the statues and continued to gaze up. It was impossible to tell under the strange lighting what the black material used in the statue was; it didn't look quite like metal or stone or wood. The creature had two arms, two legs, and a head, but it wasn't just the addition of widely spread wings which prevented it from being mistaken for human. No, all of the proportions were subtly wrong and the face . . .

From a distance the statue had evoked an instant feeling of fear, but now fear wasn't quite the right descriptor. No, the primary sense was one of overawing power. Under this insane lighting, it was somehow horrific and beautiful at the same time and I had the sudden, almost overwhelming feeling I should fall to my knees and bow my head before it. And this was only a statue. The little voice in the back of my head was once again speaking; asking if this was my body's response to a mere statue, what would be its response to meeting the real thing?

"Maybe," I answered to the suggestion of angels. Suddenly I found myself wishing some of the Scoobies were here. Had the hell-god Gloria caused this sensation? Were these ancient ones an entire race of hell-gods?

For some indefinable period of time, perhaps a minute, perhaps an hour, perhaps a lifetime, I stood enraptured as I gazed up at the statue. Only slowly did I realize Rebecca had wandered off, while Kelly stood next to me with the same awed expression I am sure my face had been showing.

With an extreme effort I managed to drag my attention away, just in time to see someone walk up to where Rebecca stood by another nearby statue. As I watched, she began a conversation with the man and her body language indicated she knew who he was. After thirty seconds of conversation, my senses abruptly started to tingle as the man's face transformed. He was a vampire!

Rebecca made no move to get away or even raise her sword as the vampire stepped forward and quickly sank his elongated canine teeth into her neck.

Feeling like I was moving in slow motion, I raced over. I had mostly seen the creature from the back and had recognized his transformation by the change in my 'senses'. When I reached them and used my terrible strength to tear him away from Rebecca, I got my first good look at his face. And it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The intellectual side of my brain knew this was a vampire, but my heart and soul cried out that he should be feeding from me and not Rebecca. What was the lighting in this space doing to me? What was the original purpose of this chamber?

It took every ounce of my strength and all four years' worth of experience as a slayer to overcome my incredible feelings of desire and force my body to raise the well-used table leg and slam it through his chest. When his body exploded into the classic cloud of dust, my head seemed, at least for the moment, to clear of the effects of this room.

As I grabbed the wavering Rebecca and slapped my left hand to her badly ravaged throat in an attempt to staunch the rapidly spreading stream of blood, I instantly realized many more vampires were arriving in the area. If we didn't quickly get out of this chamber with its deadly light, it was going to be the end for us.

Using my slayer voice I called out. "KELLY, WAKE UP. WE HAVE TO LEAVE. NOW!"

I hadn't noticed how quiet this chamber was until my voice rumbled out and then came echoing back from the far wall. At least it had its normal effect on the vampires and they all froze in their tracks. Kelly shook her head for a moment and then seemed to realize where she was. Immediately she raised her battleaxe into a ready position and raced over.

Rebecca was still caught in the near hypnotic state a vampire's feeding produces as her knees started to buckle from shock and blood loss. Keeping my left hand clamped to her throat, I swept her up into my arms and searched frantically for a way out of this chamber. The majority of the vampires were near the entrance we had used, so it was most definitely out. Across on the far side of the chamber was a large grand opening. Whatever lay beyond was a lot darker than this room and if it meant getting out of whatever light these globes were emitting, I was all for it.

Kelly caught up just as I started to run. "What is happening to us? What's wrong with Rebecca?"

Rebecca's deadweight wasn't a huge hindrance to my running, but the fact she is six or seven inches taller and trying to keep a firm grip on her throat were. I found myself shifting her body around a little, trying to find a less awkward position.

"She was bitten by a vampire. We have to get out of this room. The light in here is having some strange effect on our minds. I think this room must have been originally used to subjugate slaves and prisoners to the power and the will of the ancient ones. Whatever you do, don't look into the faces of any of the vampires in here. Instead of their usual ugly butt-faces, in here they look impossibly beautiful. It must be because the demons which possess the vampires are descended from the ancient ones."

Kelly gave Rebecca a sidelong glance as we ran, and I could understand the fear and concern in her expression. It was less than an hour since she had first learned vampires and demons were real and now Rebecca had been bitten.

Even burdened with a heavy battleaxe and an inert body, it took us less than eight seconds to cover the hundred yards to the exit. As soon as we were out from under the terrible orangey-purple light, it felt like my brain, body, and soul were finally once more my own.

We found ourselves in a long ornate corridor that had to be at least thirty feet wide with a tall, sixty foot high barrel-vaulted ceiling. The ceiling was an intricate trellis work of polished silver through which shone a thankfully benign pale blue light. The main corridor we were in was straight and so long it faded into the distance. However about every two hundred feet smaller side corridors branched off.

I could feel the vampires were still on our trail. We needed to quickly find a secure spot where we could stop and see to Rebecca's wound. Picking the fourth cross-corridor at random, I turned and sprinted down the right passage.

This hallway was lined with doorways on both sides at about forty foot intervals. Selecting the fifth one on the left, I ran up intending to kick the door down. But as I approached, the door smoothly and quietly slid open. Not pausing to consider what magical or mechanical device was controlling the door, I ran inside with Kelly right on my tail.

The door had been at least seventeen or eighteen feet tall and now we found ourselves in a room also furnished on a giant scale, as though the intended occupants were fourteen or fifteen feet tall. A shiver ran down my spine as I realized this room was for use by the creatures on the pedestals. The statues had been life-size.

It had to have been thousands of years, hell, maybe millions of years, since the ancient ones had been in residence, but this room looked ready for immediate use. No moldering, decaying furnishings or odors of rot and decay, everything in this room looked pristine and new.

I spared only a moment to glance at the decor as I focused on finding a spot where I could put Rebecca down that would leave us hidden from a cursory inspection if the vampires opened the door. Though this whole facility was old beyond imagining, this room felt surprisingly like a grand, oversized hotel suite. Perhaps it was just the lack of personal mementoes, did ancient ones carry photos of their families?

The room was large and open, forty feet wide and at least fifty feet deep. At the back was an open loft area, but without visible stairs. Of course, for winged creatures, stairs were not much of a necessity. Suddenly, I wondered if we would eventually have trouble getting around in a facility which was designed for a dominant species which could fly.

However we could worry about that later. At the moment, none of the furniture would give us much cover to hide. The room had five benches, all of which had tall spindly legs leading up to seats five feet above the ground. None of the couches had backs, but then chair backs would obviously get in the way for creatures with big wings.

Seeing a couple of doorways in the back wall, we ran to the nearer one. Like the entrance door, this door also slid open at our approach. Inside we found the giant demon equivalent of a modern bathroom, all white and shiny, but their answer for a sink was built into a counter above my eye level. If the situation wasn't so deadly, this suite would have seemed almost humorous like we had suddenly been thrust onto the set from the movie, 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'.

Once we were clear of the doorway, the door to this bathroom slid back shut. Gently, I lowered Rebecca to the floor with her back propped against the wall next to the sink.

Setting aside my table leg and Rebecca's sword, I quickly pulled off my jacket and then stripped off my tee-shirt. The tee was the first thing I could think of to use as a bandage for her neck. Tearing it into strips, I handed Kelly a couple and she climbed up onto the counter, which was the only way we could reached the tall sink. She waved a couple of the strips under the faucet. Just like in a modern restroom, a stream of water magically appeared.

As I tried to wipe the worst of the blood from Rebecca's neck before applying the bandage, the cold, damp cloth started to bring her back around.

"What . . . what happened? . . . Where are we?" Rebecca mumbled, as her eyes started to clear.

"We are in Cleveland. Well, deep under Cleveland, actually," I began, trying to keep my voice calm and soothing.

"I remember . . . ah . . . giant winged creatures," said Rebecca slowly.

"Those were just statues, nothing to be afraid of."

"Why does my neck hurt? Oh my god, Kevin was a vampire," said Rebecca, as her voice started to sound a little panicky. Although she must still be pretty groggy or she would have made the connection of the two sentences she had just said and would have been much more panicky.

"Who is Kevin?" I asked, trying to keep her distracted until I had time to finish tying the strips I was using to hold the compress in place.

"Kevin Stearns. Last year I spent six hours of one very long night in a surveillance van with him during a stakeout of a suspected al-Qaida safe house." Then she paused for a moment before continuing in a nearly hysterical tone as her hands reached for the just completed dressing on her neck. "Kevin was a vampire. And he bit me!"

I had to grab her wrists with almost slayer strength to keep her frantic hands from tearing at the protective covering.

Suddenly, her flailing movements ceased. She looked at me with just a hint of hysteria still in her eyes, but her voice was dead calm. "Am I going to turn into a vampire, too?"

Kelly was watching me intently also, as they waited for my declaration.

Seeing she was in control, I released her hands and sank back on my haunches as I shook my head. "No, you are not going to turn into a vampire, at least not from this bite. You will only turn into a vampire if he drains enough of your blood to stop your heart; then it almost always a sure thing. Or if you both exchange blood, you can turn when you die, even if your death is not at the same time, however the longer the time which passes between the exchanges of blood and actual death, the lower the odds of turning. If you don't die until ten years after the blood exchange, the odds of you turning into a vampire are down to maybe one in fifty. But to answer your question again, this bite is not going to turn you into a vampire."

Both Rebecca and Kelly let out a sigh of relief at this explanation and Rebecca gave a slow painful nod of her head.

Using my chin to point at her bandage, I continued. "The vampire's saliva contains an anti-coagulant to help the blood flow freely. This means your wound is going to be unusually slow to stop bleeding and very slow to heal. We will need to watch the bandage carefully until we get out of here."

Rebecca gave another slow nodded, but I could tell she was barely listening. The events back in the great hall must still have been going around and around in her head, as she started to mumble to herself. "As soon as Kevin started talking I knew something was wrong with him. I knew at some instinctive level this was no longer the Kevin I had known, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything. Then after his face assumed that ugly vampire countenance, and even though I knew he was going to kill me, I still couldn't bring myself to kill a friend. I have never killed anyone before tonight. I couldn't imagine anything worse than having to kill someone who once was a friend."

Barely above a whisper, I answered. "There are worse things than having to kill a friend."

Chapter 5 - Part 2

Oh, there are most definitely things worse than having to kill a friend.

I have never told anyone about the two years between my parents' disappearance and the death of my first watcher in Boston at the hands of the vampire Kakistos. When I have needed to address this time it has always been done with half-truths or outright lies. Only Gib knows parts of this story and even he doesn't know the worst bits that turned me from the innocent Dana into the bad-ass Faith.

After my parents' disappearance I stayed for a brief time with Gib, but he wasn't family and with all of the traveling his job required it wasn't a situation that could ever be permanent. So, ultimately I ended up with my only close living relative, my Mother's sister, Katherine Lehane. At first it was hard, difficult and awkward. Kate was a lot younger than my Mom. Actually, at twenty-three she was closer to my age of thirteen than my Mom's on the fateful day I arrived at her apartment.

Kate was only six months out of college at the time with a degree in Journalism. She had started her first 'real' job as a reporter for the Pittsfield Gazette in Pittsfield, Massachusetts three months earlier. Now, suddenly her life was almost as disrupted as my own. I mean, she was at that time in her life when she should have been enjoying all the fruits of her hard work in school, both in career terms and letting loose with a little partying. Instead she found herself saddled with someone who fell somewhere between a niece, a little sister, and a daughter.

And I was not someone who was easy to be around at the time. No, my safe little life with two loving parents had been ripped apart without warning and without any explanation other than an unsatisfying comment about 'National Security'. I was scared, angry, and lost and in the beginning I took everything out on my only available target, Kate. Sometimes looking back I wondered why she didn't just throw in the towel and turn me over to the Berkshire County Human Services department after the way I treated her with my endless hours of crying or screaming.

It was during those first dark days with Kate that Faith was born. Oh, the dark, 'seen everything, done everything' Faith I would be at my arrival in Sunnydale wouldn't exist until well into the future, but it was during this time Kate gave me the nickname. It started with her holding me and saying, 'You have to have faith things will get better,' when I was in my darkest moods.

Kate loved famous quotes and always seemed to have an appropriate one on the tip of her tongue. For a while in the earliest days of our living together she would leave little 3x5 note cards on my dresser or on the mirror in the bathroom with famous quotes involving the word, 'faith'. For a long time these note cards were my only memento of Kate and the time we spent in Pittsfield. But like everything in my life, these too were eventually taken from me, as they disappeared sometime while I lay comatose for months after the fight to the death with Buffy.

At least I still remember one of my favorites, a short verse by Robert Browning:

You call for faith:

I show you doubt, to prove that faith exists.

The more doubt, the stronger the faith, I say,

If faith o'ercomes doubt.

Anyway, eventually we got through the worst of it and I began to accept that my parents were really gone and this was now my new life. Perhaps it was a blessing Kate's job was in an almost rural area and life was so different from Washington D.C. We spent lots of weekends hiking in the surrounding Green Mountains and the first winter I even learned to ski.

We spent almost two years in Pittsfield and by the end I was almost the happy person I had been before the loss of my parents. I had friends at school. I had been on a couple of dates. Life was starting to feel like more than just something to be survived. Those years had been good for Kate, too. She had gotten her name on the byline of several investigative articles which reached the attention of the major newspapers and several job offers rolled in. Kate had no desire to spend her whole career in a small backwater town and since I would be leaving for college in a couple of years anyway, she ended up accepting an offer from the Boston Globe.

I was sorry to leave my friends at school, but I could see how much this meant to Kate and so I tried not to make too much of a fuss as we packed our belongings and moved back to the big city.

But things started falling apart almost as soon as we reached Boston. I can't believe the Globe would give what was effectively a rookie, the assignment Kate began working on. Of course, Kate was always a go-getter and most likely she started the investigation on her own time. When we arrived, Boston was in the midst of a string of disappearances. It seemed to be in the news almost every day. With twenty people missing in less than two months, it was the biggest local crime story since the Boston Strangler almost forty years earlier.

Most of the disappearances occurred at night in the area down by the docks. As I am sure you can guess the start of the disappearances coincided with the arrival of the old, master vampire, Kakistos. Not that we knew anything about vampires at the time. No, everyone naturally assumed this was the work of some poor, deranged human. And Kate was hell-bent on getting the story and the one responsible.

Night after night she visited the waterfront bars frequented by dockworkers and merchant marines looking for leads on the disappearances. Finally, one night, barely five weeks after our arrival in Boston, she never came home. Usually she didn't return until long after I had gone to bed, but every morning she would be there to see me off to school. But that morning when I woke up I knew in the pit of my stomach the rest of the apartment was empty.

I clearly remember it was a Thursday. Not just any Thursday, no, it was the Thursday which happened to coincide with my fifteenth birthday. Kate had promised a special surprise after school and I had checked the paper the night before and knew 'Goo Goo Girls' were playing in Cambridge all week. Kate had seen them in Buffalo during college, she had all of their CDs, and she always talked about taking me someday to a concert. So I had gone to bed really excited.

But seconds after I woke all thoughts of concerts were forgotten as I somehow sensed something was terribly wrong. I jumped out of bed and ran to her room, but the bed was empty. I raced around all four rooms of our apartment not finding any sign of her. Eventually, I ended up slumped on the floor of the kitchen, my legs pulled up tight to my chest. It couldn't be happening again. It was like my thirteenth birthday and losing my parents all over again, as I knew in my heart I would never see Kate alive again.

I spent hours huddled in the corner of the kitchen with no idea what was going to become of me. I was in a strange city without any real friends. I didn't really know anyone to call where Kate worked. If I called the police and reported Kate missing, what would happen to the just turned fifteen-year-old me? I had seen enough TV to know I didn't want to get sucked into the Boston juvenile system. So the hours of the day slowly passed and I couldn't imagine how my life could get any worse, but of course it got much, much worse.

An hour after dark someone started pounding on the door. I was still sitting on the floor in the kitchen in a daze and it wasn't until Kate starting calling my name that I even noticed the noise. Startled, the adrenaline pumped through my body as I surged to my feet and raced to the door. It never occurred to me to wonder why she didn't just let herself in.

I ripped open the door and there she stood. At first glance she looked about the same as always, maybe her medium brown hair was a little more disheveled and a couple of extra buttons on her blouse were undone. I was so relieved, I let slide the subtle hints that something was wrong. I mean, shit, Kate had been the whole center of my life for the past two years and I thought I had lost her forever.

Throwing my arms around her, I pulled her into a tight hug. Between my sobs I barely got any words out. "Kate, Kate, Kate. . . . . . You scared me so much. . . . . . Where have you been?"

Kate didn't return my hug, but just stood there. "I met some new friends, Dana. Friends, I would like you to meet, too."

Kate hadn't called me Dana in months and she made no mention of my birthday. It should have set off alarm bells in my head, but I was barely listening to her words. She hadn't left me! It wasn't going to be like with my parents. I just continued to slowly rock as I hugged her.

When I didn't respond after a few seconds, Kate pried my arms free. Pushing me back to arm's length, she tilted my head back until I was looking into her eyes. "Dana, you need to go change. You can't go out in your pjs."

I glanced down and noticed I was still wearing my pink floral pajamas from the morning. Nodding, I looked back up at Kate's eyes and finally noticed their feverish glow. I had seen a similar look before on the faces of kids at parties, the kids who took drugs. But I couldn't believe Kate would be doing drugs, she had always been such a straight arrow. The one time Sara, my wildest friend back in Pittsfield, brought some marijuana to our apartment; Kate had grounded me for a month.

Grinning with relief, I turned and headed towards my bedroom. I had only gotten about four steps when Kate called out.

"Dana?"

I turned back to find Kate still standing out in the hall.

"Kate, what are you still doing out there? Come help me pick out the right thing to wear."

Looking back, I realize what I took for a smile on her face when she stepped into the apartment was actually a smirk.

When we reached my bedroom she helped me pick out what to wear: black jeans, black leather jacket, and one of Kate's old Nirvana concert tee-shirts. Then she added dark eye shadow and dark lipstick, which with my naturally pale complexion resulted in a complete 'Goth' look. When I made a last minute stop in the bathroom before we left, I found myself staring at what almost seemed like a stranger reflected in the mirror. I think that evening I perhaps subconsciously understood the final few pieces of the 'Faith' jigsaw puzzle were about to fall into place and the last vestiges of the 'Dana Tasker' my parents would have recognized were slipping away.

After about a twenty minute drive, we reached one of the seediest parts of the waterfront, a place where before that night I would have been grounded for life for visiting. The street was lined with cheap bars, and for the first time ever I saw what had to be actual hookers standing near the corners.

Kate led me to a bar called 'Patrick O's', although surely the name was a hold-over from the long ago days when this had been a respectable, working class Irish neighborhood. Inside, the air was a thick blue haze. The noise was horrendous as people shouted to be heard over the house band which was playing some old Metallica tune. A few people were out on the postage stamp sized dance floor, but the majority were clustered around the three grungy pool tables.

Kate never paused as she strode straight through the bar area. I meekly followed along trying to stay close enough to be Kate's shadow. At fifteen I had never been in a real bar before and I certainly never expected my first one to be a dive like this. My outfit and appearance may have made me look a few years older than my true age, but I still looked by far the youngest of anyone in the place. A number of the men were leering at me in the most frightening way, but Kate never slackened her pace as she moved relentless towards a doorway at the back.

We passed into a hallway which helped attenuate some of the noise from the band and the bar crowd. Kate walked up to the third and final door on the left side of the corridor, pushed the door open, and stepped through. I had no real choice but to follow.

The room, while surprisingly large at about twenty by twenty feet, was just as dingy as the rest of the establishment. The walls were covered with avocado green wallpaper which had to have been out of style for at least fifty years. The room was furnished with a couple of old, battered couches that looked like they had been salvaged from a dump. It also had a much abused wooden dressing room table from which the expected mirror had been removed. All in all, the room gave the impression of being or having been the band's break room.

The room was already occupied by four other people, two couples all in their early to mid twenties. As we stepped into the room, they all turned to stare at us for a moment. It only took that moment for it to register in my mind that the man from the first couple and the woman from the second couple had the same feverish eyes Kate was exhibiting.

"It's about time you got here, Kate," said the first man. "You don't know how hard it is to just sit here waiting to feed."

"Sean, you know the offerings must go to the Master before it is our turn," answered Kate.

I had no idea what they were talking about, but words like 'feeding', 'offerings', and 'the Master' were sending chills down my spine.

"I can't wait," said the other woman with the feverish eyes. Suddenly, as I watched in horror, the woman's face transformed into a hideous mask with hard, inhuman ridges across her brow, huge yellowish eyes where the irises seemed to enlarge until not a hint of the whites remained, and, most scarily, upper teeth so long and protruding they extended well past her lower lip while her mouth remained closed. But her mouth didn't remain closed for more than a couple of seconds as she quickly turned to her male companion and sank her elongated teeth into his exposed neck.

"Gail, stop!" shouted Kate and Sean, almost in unison.

Before Gail responded a sickly, sweet metallic odor seemed to permeate the room. At the time I didn't recognize the smell, but now after long years of experience, I know it was the smell of fresh blood.

The smell quickly overwhelmed what little self-control Kate and Sean possessed. After only a couple of seconds, Sean's face too had assumed the classic 'vampire' mask and then he lunged at his young blonde companion.

My attention was forced to Kate as she moved closer to me. Like the others, her face too has taken on a demonic appearance.

"Kate, please," I said at barely a whisper, as I slowly backed away until my back was against the wall.

But Kate gave no response, no explanation or apology, just maintained a steady approach to my trapped position. I couldn't move my gaze away from her hellish, blood-lust filled yellow eyes. They were so incredibly hypnotic.

The little part of my brain that was still functioning was stuck in a loop saying over and over, 'this can't be happening, let me wake from this nightmare. This can't be happening, let me wake from this nightmare. This can't be happening, let me wake from this nightmare.'

However it was happening and Kate finally reached me. As she turned her head to reach my throat, I could no longer see her eyes and they lost their hold over me. All I was left with was the smell of her fetid breath. It was the worst thing I had ever smelt in my life. How had I not noticed this back at the apartment or during the drive here?

I braced myself for the end. Then just as her fangs touched my neck for the fatal plunge, it happened. The Powers That Be choose that instant to bestow my slayer gift. Perhaps at the second Kendra died I was in the greatest need of all the potential slayers. Or perhaps it was a cruel joke on their part to throw me into to deep end to see if I would sink or swim knowing if I didn't survive the next few seconds they could always just give the gift to the next potential slayer waiting in line.

Regardless of what motivates the Powers to decide which candidate is selected, on this occasion they selected me. Instantly, it felt like a bolt of lightening had struck my body and a massive electrical charge was surging through me. A convulsive reflex shook me and without thinking I shoved Kate away from me with all of my strength. Kate flew across the width of the room and slammed into the far wall with sufficient force to cave in the drywall. She slid to the floor, momentarily stunned.

This action was enough to attract the attention of the other two vampires away from their feeding. Although the way their victim's bodies slipped lifelessly to the floor, they may have been finished anyway.

Sean was the first on his feet and came charging towards me. Almost of its own volition my body stepped away from the wall and then spun into a round house kick. My foot connected with his face and the sound of his shattering jaw filled the room as his body careened off to crash into the dressing table which shattered under the impact.

I was never into anything like martial arts when I was growing up. The closest thing I had ever done was a couple of years of ballet lessons back in D.C. So I was just as surprised by the round house as Sean had been.

Therefore after seeing how easily I had tossed Kate across the room and then the blow I had delivered to Sean, you would have expected Gail to be a little more cautious. But she raced in just as recklessly as Sean had. It wouldn't be until I had a lot more experience that I would understand the demons controlling newbie vamps didn't fully understand the real world and would do stupid things.

Without even thinking about it, as Gail reached me I threw a hard right cross and drove her to the floor. For a moment I just stood there staring at the havoc I had wreaked against these three people. No, I couldn't think of them as people, they were some kind of monsters. Still, this had been the scariest moment in my life since being on top of the skyscraper back in Miami when I was just a little kid, but this time I wasn't behaving like a frightened little girl. My body was almost vibrating with power.

However I didn't understand what was happening to me or what I was up against. You should never pause in a fight with vampires and let them recover. No, you fight hard and fast until they are all nothing more than dust. But I didn't understand at that moment what they were. Oh, I had seen the fangs and the bites on the necks however the new reality my life was entering hadn't yet sunk in.

The three vamps were all back on their feet and arrayed in a row before me. Abruptly, they all charged at once hoping to overwhelm me by weight of numbers. My hands and feet were a blur and in twenty seconds I was again the only one standing. But I didn't get off scot-free this time, I was sure at least a couple of my ribs were cracked. I could still move and fight, however it was becoming obvious I couldn't win without a weapon. And that's when a scene from an old Dracula movie popped into my head. A scene where Van Helsing, played of course by Peter Cushing, pounded a stake through Dracula's heart. It was finally clear, even to me, that these monsters were vampires and if I was going to win I needed to find a stake.

The first wood I saw in the room was the shattered dressing table and I made my way over to it. Well, fought my way over would be more accurate. By the time I reached it I had taken a blow to my left knee that should have crippled me. It hurt like hell, but I was still moving. I grabbed a broken leg which had a sharp end and spun around thrusting it towards the nearest exposed chest. This chest happened to belong to Gail and she got a shocked look on her face just before she burst into a cloud of dust. Although the expression on my face may have been even more shocked than hers at what the stake had done to her. In the movies staked vampires always died so much slower. And the good guys always had to use a big mallet to pound the stake home while I shoved it into her chest with my bare hands.

For a moment I lost my focus staring at the dissipating cloud of dust. But I was quickly brought back to the reality of the situation when I was grabbed from behind and tossed across the room. I landed hard and what little was left in my left knee failed completely as it buckled and pitched me to the floor. I turned it into a roll and made it to the far wall where I slowly leveraged my way back upright.

I stood there breathing hard; the pain in my left knee was unbelievable. Of course it only somewhat overshadowed my broken ribs or the side of my face where my right eye was almost swollen shut. Still, this incredible power throbbed through my body and as I clutched my stake, no way was I ready to give up and die.

Sean grabbed an old wooden coat stand from the corner and came in swinging. I tucked my stake into the back of my pants and raised my hands to defend myself. As the heavy shaft came whistling in, I staggered a half step closer. Pivoting to my left, I caught the end of the rack with my left hand and then continuing to turn I used a right forearm strike to the center of the shaft to snap it in two. Then completing my rotation I ended up facing Sean with the outer half of the coat rack in my left hand. Sean's expression was almost as shocked as Gail's as his own improvised weapon rammed through his chest.

As his body disintegrated, I let the weapon drop to the floor and turned my attention to Kate, or the creature who had once been Kate.

For some reason she looked even more demonic than either Sean or Gail; I am sure it was the fact I had spent every day for the past two years with her. I mean, we had spent hours before the mirror together as she taught me the fine art of subtly applied makeup. I had come to know every feature on her face, from the small mole above her right eyebrow to the twenty seven freckles across her high cheekbones. This sudden travesty of the Kate I had known made my heart ache. Although I hadn't yet accepted in my head what I was going to have to do, in my heart and soul I think I already knew.

"Kate, please don't do this," I pleaded.

Kate slinked forward like a hooker from a bad movie giving one more indication that my Kate was lost, even if her body was still standing in front of me. She gave a big toothy grin, but it merely looked pathetic around her long fangs and deformed brow.

As I sagged back against the wall, I carefully pulled out my stake and hid it along my forearm. It was time to end this and put us out of our miseries.

"I love you, Kate," I said with a shake of my head. Then lowering my eyes, I continued. "Do what you have to do."

Kate stalked forward licking her lips in anticipation.

Whispering, "I'm sorry," I abruptly used an underhand swing to drive the stake through Kate's heart.

A shocked look crossed her face and then, for just a fraction of a second, I thought I saw the old Kate before her body, too, burst into a cloud of dust.

The raw, as yet vaguely understood, power of the slayer seemed to drain from my body as quickly as a staked vampire can turn into a pile of dust. I crumpled to the floor as the enormity of the situation started to sink home.

I had just killed Kate. My aunt. My guardian. My best friend.

All day I had thought she was gone forever. Then she returned as a monster and I was forced to kill her. What had I done to deserve this? First my parents were lost and now Kate. Was I the real monster, somehow causing bad things to happen to everyone I loved?

The tears which had been building up all day finally burst forth. Kate was really dead and I was totally alone. I lay there on the floor for a long time sobbing, just me and the two lifeless, drained victims of the vampires. And so passed my fifteenth birthday.

Chapter 5 Part 3

Buffy always complains about hating birthdays and how bad things always seemed to happen to her, but on the whole I would have to say my birthdays have been worse. On my thirteenth birthday I saw my parents for the last time. On my fifteenth birthday I was forced to kill my aunt Kate. I spent my sixteenth birthday hunting down and killing four of the Mayor's former 'associates'. My seventeenth birthday was spent in a coma. My eighteenth and nineteenth birthdays passed in prison.

As we sat there on the floor of the bathroom of some ancient demonic hotel suite, all the thoughts of birthdays past reminded me of my rapidly approaching twentieth birthday. What new disaster was about to befall me? Would I ever be free of the birthday curse? Now that I was working so hard to be a force for good, would the Powers reward me with a true happy birthday? It would be a wonderful birthday gift to be reunited with my Mom and Dad. Was that too much to ask of life?

I was pulled from my morose musings by a question from Rebecca.

"Faith, this place is incredible. Was it like this in Sunnydale, too?"

I looked at her and her eyes were clear. Now that she knew the bite wasn't going to turn her into a vampire, it was amazing how quickly she was able to put it behind her and focus on the current situation. Was it a result of her secret agent training? Or was she a good agent because she had some natural gift in this area?

"No," I shook my head. "Sunnydale had nothing like this that I ever saw or heard about. But then Sunnydale's hellmouth was extremely active for something like a hundred years. The amount of destructive magic used by the countless demons and other creatures who tried to gain control is almost unimaginable. Perhaps Sunnydale housed a facility like this a hundred years ago, but by the time I arrived it was just a maze of destroyed or partially collapsed tunnels and ruins."

"Archeologists will have a field day down here," Rebecca continued as she reached up to adjust her glasses before she slowly got her feet under her and worked her way back upright.

I grabbed her arm to steady her during the moment it took to regain her balance. "That may be true, assuming of course they survive down here long enough to achieve any results."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, assuming we are able to clear out this current infestation of vampires, the hellmouth will just attract another group of demons within a few weeks. Back in Sunnydale there was a constant influx of creatures wanting to use the power of the hellmouth to take over the world, or end the world, or do something involving the world. Sometimes it got to the point where we just stood back and let the monsters duke it out and then we would finish off any survivors.

"On the other hand, if the archeologists did find a window between the various groups of demons, there would still be the problem of the hellmouth subverting their minds. It is very dangerous to spend extended periods of time near the hellmouth. I mean, the effects we saw back in the statue chamber were just a small sample."

Rebecca looked at me with a questioning expression. "What effects are you talking about? I didn't notice anything. At least once I got past the shock of seeing a chamber like that buried under a major city. Why hasn't anyone ever stumbled across this place in the past couple hundred years?"

I barely heard the last part of Rebecca's comments. How could she have not felt the effects of that chamber? "Wait, go back for a second. You didn't feel anything when we were up close to the first statue?"

Rebecca shook her head and from her expression it was obvious she had no idea what I was talking about.

"Kelly, how about you?"

"Oh, I definitely felt something; it's just hard to explain. Ah . . . it's like if you took all the best things about Leonardo diCaprio, Orlando Bloom, and Jude Law and rolled them into one person . . . and then that person was standing in front of you and said, 'Kelly, more than anything in the world I want you to have my child.' My stomach was filled with butterflies, my knees went weak, and other things, well, you know," and Kelly started to blush furiously. "I said it was hard to explain, but looking at that statue was sort of like that, only more."

That wasn't quite the way I would have described the feeling, but I had been around the block a few more times than Kelly, probably a few hundred more times. But the point was the statue had a strong effect on Kelly, too. So why not Rebecca?

"What about when Kevin transformed? Anything unusual then?" I asked.

"Ah, not really. Oh, when his eyes turned all big and yellow it was impossible to look away, but otherwise he seemed just like the other vampires we fought on our way down here."

So, when Kelly or I were close to a statue, we were overwhelmed by its mere presence. And when I was up close to Kevin he seemed like the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Whatever was causing the effect in that room, the lighting or something else, it affected slayers but not a normal human. Was the unknown source which provided our special abilities somehow tied to these creatures? Suddenly, this place seemed like it might provide answers the Watcher's Council never could about the origins of the slayers. However, at the same time, this place suddenly felt even more dangerous than the Sunnydale hellmouth. What if we stumbled onto something which even more drastically affected Kelly and me? That could dangerously affect our options down here. It means when we are down here, we need a mixed force of magically enhanced and normal humans to safely cover each other's backs. With Rebecca in a weaken condition, it was time we started to focus on getting out of here and calling for reinforcements.

I bent down, picked up my leather jacket off of the floor, and slipped it back on over my black sports bra. "It's been quiet for a few minutes. Hopefully, we have lost the vampires for the moment. I think it is time we start thinking about getting out of here." I looked Rebecca in the eye. "I think we need to assume there are no longer any survivors from your people down at the docks. If the master vampire has turned at least fifty people in the past two days, he is not making any attempt to be low profile. If he feels that in control of the situation, I don't think he is going to be keeping prisoners unless there is a very special reason. No, he is busy turning everyone he can get his hands on. The scope of things suddenly feels a lot bigger than when we first entered the museum. We need to get out of here with the intel we have gathered and get some reinforcements."

Intel? Wow, only a few days around these people and I was already using 'spy-talk'.

Rebecca was nodding as she motioned for her sword. "Yeah, it is definitely time we regroup. Any idea how to get out of here?"

"No. All I know is that I am not going back into the statue chamber unless it is the absolute last resort."

I cast one last look around this ancient demon dwelling, trying to burn the details into my memory in case they might provide some useful clue to Giles and then I headed for the door.

We hiked for over an hour trying to locate another exit from this giant buried facility. We had managed to avoid the vampires, but our path seemed to be taking us further and further underground. The scale of the place was unbelievable as we passed through one magnificent chamber after another.

Rebecca had been holding up surprisingly well considering the blood loss and the shock to her system from the vampire attack. But she was beginning to stagger a little and the last six hundred step flight of stairs had left her more winded than it should have considering it had been downhill. It was definitely time to pause for a break.

I took the first passage leading off from the main corridor we had been following. I don't know if the Powers were guiding my choice or if it was random chance, but ten steps down the passageway and my vampire sense went nuts! There were vampires ahead, and not just newbies. Our search for an alternate exit had instead led us to the master vampire.

Without even thinking about it, I moved to one side of the passage and pressed my back tight against the wall. Rebecca and Kelly quickly followed suit. Slowly I edged forward towards where this passage opened into another large chamber perhaps 100 feet further ahead. My sense of dread was steadily growing as we approached, particularly as I noticed the faint hint of an orangey-purple tinge to the light ahead. Was this going to be another room filled with the dreaded statues?

As I reached the large chamber, I realized this passage let out onto a gallery which circled high above the main floor. And like many of the other places in this facility, this gallery was designed for creatures that could fly. It was about fifteen feet wide, but there was no protective railing of any kind; you could just walk straight ahead and step off into the abyss. I edged around the corner onto the gallery and moved along the inner wall far enough so Rebecca and Kelly could join me without being silhouetted against the passage. Then I dropped to my knees and crawled to the edge of the gallery to look down.

The main floor of the chamber was circular and must have been about two hundred feet across. It was surrounded by seven tiers of galleries and we were on the fifth one up. As with most everything else down here, this chamber was sized for the giant winged creatures which meant each tier was twenty feet tall and we were about one hundred feet above the floor. The ceiling of the chamber was giving off the light blue glow we had found throughout the facility. The orangey-purple glow I had noticed from the passage was coming from a giant sphere similar to the ones we had seen suspended in the original statue room. This globe was hanging below the level of our tier and to one side of the main chamber. From our current position I could tell there was another one of the giant winged statues directly below the sphere, but all I could see was part of a wing and an arm. If we wanted to get a clear view of the statue we would have to move about a quarter of the way around the perimeter of this gallery. But I had seen enough of the other statues for the time being and felt no strong urge to get a better view of this one.

Besides, there were other more interesting things clearly visible from our current position to hold my interest. The most important was the great seal embedded into the floor and covering the entrance to the hellmouth. I could feel the power, the evil emanating through the seal even though it looked to be fully intact. The seal was about thirty feet across and like in Sunnydale it was fabricated from some dark ebony-colored metal. Unlike Sunnydale, the magical protective locks had never been disturbed; they continued to glow a bright incandescent gold which was almost painful to look at. The locks were in the form of sentences inlaid into the surface of the dark seal. The sentences were in at least four distinct styles or languages. I couldn't actually read any of them, but they all felt almost like they were on the tip of my tongue trying to get out. Was this another aspect of the slayer heritage?

But the hellmouth seal was something which barely registered in my peripheral vision as my whole attention was drawn to the master vampire standing between the great seal and the giant statue. Oh, there were fifteen to twenty newbie vampires down there, but I could sense the power of the master. Bathed in the orangey-purple light of the globe, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Tall, majestic, even from a distance I knew she was taller than Rebecca and that she would simply tower over me. Her pale, ghost-white skin was perfectly complemented by her shoulder-length jet black hair. From the high angle of our gallery and the distance of at least two hundred feet from our current position I shouldn't have been able to make out her eyes, yet I knew they were a light silver with an almost mirror finish like you find on the special contact lenses for the Halloween season. All of the vampires I have ever met have dressed in dark colors, the better to blend into the night. But not this one, she was dressed all in silver and gold.

I could feel the arousal coursing through my body. It wanted to throw itself from this balcony and run to her. Beg her to take me, to use me. I struggled to hold my body in check, but couldn't help the small whimper which escaped my lips. I so wanted her, needed her.

It took every ounce of my inner strength to force my body back from the edge of the gallery until the vampire was lost from my sight. Once I could no longer see her, the effect diminished enough so I could once again remember who I was and where I was. And I was just in time to see Kelly starting to rise to her feet, her eyes showing the feverish glow of someone out of control.

Quickly, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back from the edge. She began to struggle and it took all of my strength to hold her while I clamped a hand over her mouth to keep her from giving us away.

"Kelly, Kelly," I whispered urgently in her ear. "Take deep breaths. You are in control. Take deep breaths."

I continued to whisper and cajole her for almost a minute before the light in her eyes faded a little. Finally, she sagged and then nodded she was okay.

As I had been struggling with Kelly, Rebecca had crawled over. Now, she whispered with the fear in her voice up additional notch or two, "What is the matter?"

I motioned Rebecca up until our three faces were almost touching. As a residual effect from the vampire, the close female contact almost pushed my hormones back over the top. Fortunately, enough of the orangey-purple light was leaking over the edge of the gallery that Rebecca's and Kelly's flesh looked half dead. I guess I am never going to be attracted to the undead like Buffy.

Swallowing hard, I answered. "Did you see the master vampire down there?"

"You mean that ugly creature with the cloven hands and feet and the straggly black hair?"

"Yeah, only under the light or energy or whatever that globe is emitting, to us slayers she looks like the most desirable creature who has ever existed. From this far away I can barely control the urge to jump from this balcony and run to her and beg her to take me. It was like this back in the chamber of statues with Kevin, but she is many times more powerful and desirable than a newly turned vampire. If I get any closer to her under this light I won't be able to save myself.

"Rebecca, since it doesn't seem to affect you, you need to go back and watch what she is doing."

Rebecca glanced from me to Kelly and then back again before nodding and crawling back to the edge.

She had only been there for a few seconds when I started to hear the sounds of chanting coming from the floor of the chamber. And just like with seeing her, the vampire's voice was almost enough to overload my senses. As I sat there in a daze, I vaguely wondered if this is what Ulysses experienced when he was tied to the mast of the ship and heard the Sirens.

The chanting went on for several minutes before a brilliant green burst of light came from below completely overwhelming the orangey-purple light from the globe and even the pale blue light from the ceiling. The green light held steady for several seconds before slowly fading. When it was gone, the light returned to the state it had been in before. What was the meaning of the light? Had the vampire's chanting in combination with the flash of light broken the seals on the hellmouth? Surely if it had, I would sense the difference like I could feel when the First had broken the seal on the hellmouth back in Sunnydale. But the feeling of chained and controlled evil coming from it felt the same. Had the vampire failed in its attempt to open the hellmouth?

The chanting stopped and after several more minutes of agonized waiting, Rebecca slipped back from the edge of the balcony and crawled back over to us.

"What happened?" I blurted out, unable to hold my patience for one second longer. At least I had kept the volume down to almost a whisper.

Rebecca was looking a little more shaken than she already was from all of the events during this long, hard night. "I think . . . I think . . . I think the statue moved."

The statue we had seen down on the floor had been the farthest thing from my mind. "What do you mean - the statue moved?"

"The vampire was facing towards the statue as she was chanting. As she came towards the end, she pulled a large green crystal from the sleeve of her robe. She raised it high into the air and at her last word the crystal emitted a bright flash of green light. While the crystal was glowing the strange light from the globe seemed to go dim and that's when I saw the statue's wing move. I am sure I saw it."

"The vampire was facing the statue?" I asked not immediately grasping the situation. "Not towards the hellmouth seal?"

"Yeah, she was definitely facing the statue."

What was going on? Why was she trying to animate a statue? Animate. Oh my god, what if that wasn't a statue. What if none of them were statues? Shit, shit, shit. What if all of the statues were really ancient ones and the strange orangey-purple globes were somehow keeping them in suspended animation? Shit, shit, shit. Why would she want to bring back the ancient ones? Stupid question, Faith. All demons are, by definition, crazy.

"But after it was all over, the globe thingy is the same as before?" I asked. "The vampire failed, right?"

Kelly interrupted. "Faith, what are you talking about? What is going on?"

I turned my attention from Rebecca to Kelly. "I don't think the giant winged statues are really statues. I think they are the ancient ones and I think the globes are somehow keeping them frozen in time."

I could see Kelly turning this over in her head. But she hadn't experienced the world of dark magic before tonight. All she had experienced were a bunch of easily defeated newbie vampires. She hadn't been around an active hellmouth for years like I had. And neither had Rebecca.

"A long time ago the ancient ones ruled the world. I don't know what stopped them, but if they come back it could mean the end of the world as we know it."

They obviously could see the seriousness in my face. Both of them turned a little paler.

"But the globe is still glowing and the creature has stopped moving. Everything is still going to be okay, right?" asked Kelly.

I shrugged. "For now. Maybe. But what if the vampire tries again?"

"It just emphasizes the importance of getting out of here and getting help," said Rebecca trying to get us pointed forward again.

And that's when it happened. That's when I received my first true slayer VISION. I know Buffy has received a few, but it had never happened to me. What did it say about the situation when the Powers felt I couldn't just muddle through on my own without direct intervention? Now I was really scared.

The vision didn't help my fear factor any. No, suddenly I had never been more afraid in my life.

The vision was of my mother.

In the vision my mother was dressed in a black evening gown, all slinky and sexy. However the gown was torn and filthy like she had been wearing it for days. She was unconscious and stretched out on a marble slab in what looked like a dungeon with chains hanging from the walls and the lighting provided by blazing torches.

Three other women, who also were wearing ragged, lived-in clothing, were arrayed on similar slabs. I didn't recognize any of these three women, yet there was something very familiar about their faces. I just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

The four slabs were arranged in a cruciform pattern and in the center stood a slender, older man with a gray goatee wearing a coarse dark brown robe. The man was chanting in some strange language that sounded very similar to what the vampire here had just been using. As the chanting rose in pitch, the man lifted a large clear crystal. At the final word of his incantation, a scarlet mist, matching the color of the crystal, started to rise out of the bodies of the four women and spiral inwards. When the mist touched the crystal it was quickly absorbed and slowly it turned darker and darker until it was a shade of scarlet that almost looked black.

And then the vision turned very scary. As the man lowered the crystal, I was forced to watch my mom's body and those of the other women slowly collapse in on themselves. The vision was of my mother's death!

As abruptly as it arrived, the vision ended. I was left there gasping for breathe as I could feel the tears rolling down my face. After years of believing my parents were dead, I finally received a glimmer of hope they were still alive. Now, after three days of ever increasing hope, all of my dreams were being dashed. Why had I been give this vision? How could watching my mother die possibly help me?

As I sat there with my back against the wall of the gallery, I clasped my arms about my upraised knees and started to rock. Even though I hadn't seen my mother in almost seven years, it was like she had been briefly returned to me and then ripped away; much like Kate had been briefly returned to me before it was revealed she was really just a vampire.

As though from far away I heard someone whispering my name, but it wasn't until Rebecca used her hand to raise my head that it fully registered.

"Faith, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I, ah, I just had a vision. A slayer vision. It was of my mother being sacrificed in some demonic ceremony. Rebecca, my mother is dead!" And then my tears turned into silent sobs.

Rebecca wrapped her arms about me and held me. I squeezed her back tight, maybe too tight.

After a minute or two, Kelly quietly asked what a slayer vision was.

I loosened my hold on Rebecca and rubbed my eyes. "Sometimes the Powers give the slayer visions of the future to help her defeat her enemies. My friend Buffy, who has been a slayer a couple of years longer than me, has received several. But this is my first. Why did it have to be of my mother's death?"

"Faith," began Rebecca with her typical analytical response. "If the vision is of the future, then your mother isn't dead yet. Maybe the vision is trying to warn you that you must do something to prevent her death. Maybe it would help if you describe it in detail."

The vision had been so vivid; my mother's death had prevented me from seeing the true meaning of the vision. Of course, the Powers were warning me it was necessary to save my mom as part of the greater task of defeating this latest evil. Once the logic was clear, I was able to calm down and describe what I had seen.

When I finished talking, Kelly spoke up. "Faith, I think I was given a vision or a set of visions or something, too."

Rebecca and I turned to look at her.

"What did you see?" I asked, hoping it would clarify my own vision.

"It is all very confusing. It was like I was given two different visions simultaneously and they are sort of jumbled together."

"Just do the best you can to describe what you saw," said Rebecca in a soothing tone.

"Both visions start the same way, the beautiful vampire we just saw is once more standing before the statue or, I guess, frozen creature down below. Again she is holding the large green crystal. This time at the end of the incantation, the glowing globe over the creature goes dark and stays dark. The creature gives a couple mighty flaps of its wings and then lightly floats down from its pedestal. When it lands, the vampire drops to one knee and bows its head.

"The strange thing is, although there's nothing different about the chamber or anything, I for some reason have the strong impression it is Christmas time," concluded Kelly with a small frown as though she was still trying to figure out where that impression had come from.

"It must be the Winter Solstice, which is four days before Christmas and the most powerful day for dark forces in the entire year," I responded. "Perhaps that's why the vampire failed in its attempt tonight."

"But why give me a vision now, if the Winter Solstice is almost seven months away?"

"Because my parents are trapped in a Hell-dimension, a place where times runs about one hundred fifty times more slowly than here. They were kidnapped and taken there almost seven years ago, but from their perspective only a little over two weeks has passed. We thought we had about a year in our time frame or almost two days in the Hell-dimension before the window of opportunity with the inter-dimensional doorway would close. However your vision says we have to complete our rescue mission and get back here to Cleveland in less than seven months. Or put another way, we have less than a day on the other side to wrap things up."

I shook my head for a second before continuing. "We know this vampire has ties to Romania where the doorway to the Hell-dimension exists, but how does the rescue of my mother tie in?"

Kelly got a peculiar expression on her face. "Your parents were kidnapped seven years ago?"

I nodded.

"My mom also disappeared seven years ago."

I stared at Kelly for a minute and then it clicked. "Did your mom also have red hair and maybe a small birthmark on her neck below her right ear?"

Kelly gave me a startled look. "Yeah, how did you know? I was only seven when it happened, but Dad still keeps a family photograph on his dresser and the birthmark is clearly visible."

"Because I think she was one of the other women being sacrificed with my mom in my vision. And knowing that, I now understand why all of the women looked sort of familiar. The other two women are also mothers of new slayers I knew back in Sunnydale. That's the answer. For some reason it is important the energy being channeled into the crystal is coming from the mothers of slayers. And until five days ago, there have never been four simultaneously active slayers. That is why they have been holding my parents; they couldn't perform their ceremony until the other slayers were activated."

Now it was Kelly's turn to almost go into shock. "You mean my mother is alive?"

"I think so." Grinning, I turned to Rebecca. "I think you just got another volunteer for the mission to Romania and the Hell-dimension."

I could see the wheels turning in Rebecca's head as she tried to figure out how she was going to explain this latest turn of events to Trilby.

I turned back to Kelly to find a goofy smile on her face. I am sure my expression when Gib first told me my parents might still be alive hadn't been much different.

"Kelly, you said there was more to your vision?" I asked.

Slowly her smile faded and her expression turned more serious. "Yeah, it was right after the vampire knelt before the creature that the vision seemed to split in two. It was sort of like watching a movie under a strobe light. I was getting a one or two second flash of one version and than a second of the other.

"In one version a man with a gray goatee enters the chamber and walks up to the others. After the vampire rises, the three turn towards the great seal over the hellmouth. The vampire raises her green crystal and the man raises a dark, almost black crystal. The creature starts chanting some words and then a beam of light stabs out from both of the crystals. The beams merge and stream across the golden lettering on the seal. As the beams sweep past, the lettering slowly and steadily starts to disappear. The vision ends just before the last of the gold lettering is wiped out."

Kelly paused for a moment to look at me before continuing. "In the other version of the vision, you and a different man run into the chamber instead of the man with the goatee. After pausing inside the entrance for a second, you lift a large clear crystal into the air. Quickly, the vampire climbs to her feet and raises her green crystal. Brilliant beams of light pour forth from the crystals. When the beams connect a blinding flash of light encompasses the entire room. And that's when that version of the vision ends. I have no idea if anyone in the chamber survives the blast because the blast is extremely powerful," she concluded with an apologetic shrug.

I turned Kelly's words over in my mind. The clear crystal I am carrying must be the same as the dark crystal the man is carrying in the other version of Kelly's vision. So I have to retrieve the crystal before the man uses it on my mom and the others. Well, duh, like I am going to let him use it to suck all of the life force out of my mother. No way, ain't going to happen.

Then my mind turned to the mysterious man with me in the chamber.

"Can you describe the man with me in your vision?"

"Hmmm," said Kelly as she closed her eyes in concentration. "He looked about forty and he was extremely well-built. He had the biggest chest I can ever remember seeing."

Well, that brief description certainly would fit my dad. I suddenly wished her vision had also included my mom safely back from the Hell-dimension, too.

At that point things suddenly got quiet as both Kelly and I sat thinking about our long-lost parents. Finally, after a couple of minutes Rebecca tugged lightly on our sleeves.

"Come on guys, time to get moving. This information doesn't do much good down here and we still don't have any idea how to find an exit from this place. Let's go."

Kelly nodded and then paused to pull me into a tight hug. After a few seconds, she pulled away and crawled to the passage out of this tier and followed Rebecca around the corner.

I took a moment to sweep my gaze one more time around this ancient, rough-hewn chamber. Suddenly, what had started as a simple rescue mission for my parents had grown into something more. Of course, being the slayer seemed to mean every situation ended up flirting with an apocalypse. At least, if Kelly's vision was true, the next time I saw this chamber my father would be at my side. My Dad at my side, boy that sounded good.

TBC

Author's Note:

Wow, over fourteen months since my last update. Is that some kind of record? (And not the good kind of record.)

What do you think? Is the story heading in an interesting direction? Do you like the interludes filling in some of Faith's missing years?

Do you want another chapter in the near future, or are you happy to wait another fourteen months? If you're not excited to see more, I will just go back to my on-going Smallville saga. So take a minute or two to drop a review, interesting comments will more likely cause a quicker update.

Have a great day,

Duane


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